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Opportunistic Islamic organisations call on government to ban radical, anti-Pancasila groups
Detik News - July 7, 2017
"The statement by the 14 Islamic social organisations demands that the government immediately issue a Perppu on social organisations and pushes the government to disband anti-Pancasila Islamic social organisations", said Islamic mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) executive board chairperson KH Said Aqil Siroj at the NU's headquarters on Jl. Kramat in Central Jakarta on Friday July 7.
Said said that nationalist values in society are in decline as a consequence of the emergence of social organisations that oppose the state ideology of Pancasila, and this become a real concern threatening the unity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
"Intolerance has become the main problem in society of late. A majority of the nation feels and sees this phenomena and it is creating deep concern. Indonesia which is struggling to develop is experiencing an assault that is in fact coming from its own people who are influenced by radical ideas that reject or are anti-Pancasila", he said.
According to Said, anti-Pancasila and radical social organisations do not necessarily commit violence but their ideas and movement has massively and systematically destroyed sections of society.
"And it is considered a threat to diversity, the democratic political system, and Pancasila, which is one of the foundations of the Indonesian nation. If neglected, these radical or anti-Pancasila social organisations could become big and threaten the continued existence of Indonesia itself", he added.
In addition to this, if neglected, these anti-Pancasila and radical social organisations will result in society supporting radicalism and threatening the continued existence of Pancasila. In the future, the number of people who are radical and anti-Pancasila will continue to grow and will have a terrible impact on Indonesia.
"It's conceivable that our country could be destroyed like Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, and other countries. The Constitution does indeed allow for freedom of assembly and association, but this is still subject the stipulation of the law. Freedom must be accompanied by responsibility and an obligation to safeguard prevailing laws. Up until now the fact is that the government has never prohibited the establishment of social organisations, but only if it is clear that Pancasila is the basis of the social organisation that is to be established", he said. (nvl/fjp)
Notes
Amid the mass protests earlier this year against former Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, "moderate" Islamic mass organisations such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah have seen their influence and authority undermined by radical Islamic groups like the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), and would be one of the main beneficiaries if the government goes ahead and bans rival groups such as the HTI.
[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was "14 Ormas Islam Minta Pemerintah Segera Bubarkan Ormas Anti-Pancasila".]
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