Indonesia's Campuses Vulnerable To Spread Of Radicalism

JAKARTA, July 27 (Antara) - The result of a survey has reinforced the notion that the youngsters in Indonesia are the target of radicalism, and the university campuses in the country are vulnerable to the spread of radical ideology. In a survey conducted by the National Agency for Counter-Terrorism (BNPT), some 39 percent of university students in 15 provinces were indicated to have an interest in radical understanding, and so it should be anticipated early in order not to lead to terrorism BNPT Chief for Sub-directorate of Community Empowerment Andi Intang Dulung remarked on Wednesday in Padang, West Sumatra, that the 15 provinces where the survey was conducted were Lampung, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, Bengkulu, Riau, Kepulauan Islands, Bangka-Belitung, Central Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Banten, West Java, Bali, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and Maluku. Andi said the survey results should be immediately followed up by various parties, because the prevention and countermeasures of terrorism cannot only be the responsibility of BNPT. "All walks of life must be involved in saving the future of this nation's young generation," he said, adding that radical understanding is the first step towards terrorism, because all terrorists must go through that stage. However, if it is anticipated through a dialogue, he said radicalism can be prevented further. According to him, one thing that becomes the focus of BNPT in 2017 is to establish a dialogue with campus and student bureaucracy to reduce the spread of radicalism. In the meantime, Technology, Research, and Higher Education Minister Mohammad Nasir has said the potential of radicalism infiltrating state and private universities in Indonesia was quite high. "We have not been able to clearly identify the problem of radicalism at university campuses, but the potential in that direction is very high," the minister remarked after attending an anti-radicalism declaration at the Padjajaran University in Bandung, West Java, recently. According to Nasir, the potential in that direction is still there, as the campus is a place offering shelter to young students from various backgrounds pursuing courses in various streams of science. Hence, the problem of radicalism on campus is a potential threat. "This anti-radicalism declaration aims to take precautions, so that the campus does not become a center of radicalism, since both public and private universities have potential (to becoming breeding grounds), although this has not yet emerged," he emphasized. Further, Communication and Information Minister Rudiantara added that the infiltration of radicalism in the campus is inevitable, especially with the development of technologies, such as the internet, which makes the flow of information easy. "This is our focus, precisely since technology is similar to a double-edged sword that can have positive and negative effects. Hence, we try to mitigate the negative ones," Rudiantara noted. However, he added that the rector is the one who knows more about the student movement on campus. Hence, he has called on every campus to gather data from lecturers and students, as well as about their activities on campus in order to detect the early signs of radicalism. In Malang, East Java, the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) has offered training on information technology (IT) to around 60 local youngsters to fight online radicalism. The training being organized on July 24-27 at a hotel in Malang is themed "Online Peace Ambassador Training in Malang and Around." The participants are mostly those with expertise in IT, blogging, and Visual Communication Design. "Terrorists have become quite smart while operating in the online domain that they could even target that area, which has limitless readers, to spread their ideology and recruit new members, especially youngsters," Propaganda Division of BNPT Head Sujatmiko noted in Malang on Tuesday. He stated that the Online Peace Ambassador Training in Malang is being held for the third time by BNPT this year after similar events in Bandung and Semarang. The training is the sixth of its kind since this program was launched in 2016. According to Sujatmiko, the spread of radicalism and terrorism in the online world is difficult to handle. Hence, awareness of its dangers, especially among youngsters, is needed. To this end, the government, through the BNPT, has roped in young people, as strategic partners or online peace ambassadors, by establishing a link to spread positive content, especially on the internet, by holding the Online Peace Ambassador Training. Since 2016, he said the BNPT had already formed several groups of peace ambassadors in the five provinces of North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and West and Central Java. So far, these ambassadors have already contributed positively and actively in preventing terrorism. Sujartmiko expressed hope that the young ambassadors from Malang would more actively and extensively spread positive peaceful content online. Furthermore, they have collaborated with the ambassadors of other provinces, so that the online world has peaceful content. "This training aims to transform our young people into the agents of peace who will support BNPT's positive efforts online. It also strives to stir the spirit of nationalism, so they will not be easily influenced by radicalism and to also give youngsters a platform to showcase their creativity in voicing the message of peace online," he noted. These youngsters will be trained to make a creative product, a peace website that will be an affiliate of BNPT's Peaceful Media Center. They are tasked with creating content to fight radicalism and the terror propaganda online.