CALLS FOR DISSOLUTION OF NII INCREASING

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 27 (ANTARA) - Amid fears of increasing extremism, radicalism and bomb terrors,  calls for dissolution of NII, a movement organization which has fought since the 1950s for the establishment of an Islamic State of Indonesia under a caliphate government, are now being aired by various quarters.          The calls for elimination of this organization among others came from former vice president Jusuf Kalla, Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah (the Indonesian second largest Muslim organization),  legislators and other noted Muslim clerics.          The NII movement was founded in Java by Kartosuwiryo who had fought for an Islamic state since the 1950s. Since its movement ran counter to the Pancasila state ideology, NII was opposed by the government but its founder Kartosuwiryo waged a guerrilla warfare until he was captured and executed by the government in 1962.          Being considered a dangerous movement, NII was suppressed and eradicated  by the government during the era of Soeharto.          Now, the NII ideology is allegedly being disseminated again, leading to the emergence of radicalism in the country.          According to Haysim Muzadi, former chief of one of Indonesia's largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),  radicalism had now reached a dangerous level requiring serious handling by the government.          "It is  not only threatening public security but also Islam and the state," Hasyim Muzadi said. It is more dangerous because they are  driven by transnational political movements in other countries through hardline ideological channels.          Muzadi said the movement had recruited a lot of people from the innocent who were then made into militants to young intellectuals whose religious views had been distorted.          The religious views of young intellectuals were distorted after they received brainwashing, among others by the NII.          Therefore, according to former vice president Jusuf Kalla,  the government must immediately tackle the cases of brainwashing by the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement because the activity was dangerous.          "The government must act firmly against the activity. Anyone involved must be arrested so that it will not cause further unrest among the community," he said after a seminar here on Wednesday.          He said under the context of Unitary State of Indonesia radical movement like that was very dangerous for the continuity of statehood and nationhood.          Besides arresting the perpetrators other concrete actions the government could take are seeking ways on how the government and the community fight ideas of those conducting brainwashing.          The same voice was also aired by Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization. He said that the government should be able to completely solve the problem of the NII  movement so that it would not thrive and harm the state interest.          "Virtually, the NII Movement is an old movement but the government since its birth did not settle it completely," he said.          He said that the NII movement had affected younger generations and that the fact should awaken the government to eliminate it or even liquidate it. "Muhammadiyah firmly supports the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI) based on the Pancasila ideology. Therefore, Muslim generations should not be influenced with thoughts that would form a country with an other ideology," he said     He said that if the government did not firmly settle and solve the problem, the NII movement will thrive and grow in Indonesia. The NII way of brainwashing should be overcome.          A House Commission III member from the Islamic-based United Development Party (PPP), Ahmad Yani, meanwhile said one of the effective ways to combat brainwashing activity was through Islamic-based political parties.          He believed the extreme movement had happened because certain groups had been dissatisfied by the implementation of Islamic shariah in the country. "Islam-based political parties through discussion forums could straighten their views about Islamic teachings," he said.          Calls for elimination of the NII movement also came from H Syarif Hidayat and Miftah Faridi of the Salman Mosque Foundation of the Bandung-based Institute of Technology (ITB).          After all, some have accused that the Salman mosque of ITB had been used as a base for NII cadre recruitment. In their written statement on Wednesday, Syarif Hidayat and Miftah Faridi said Salman Mosque was not a base for NII cadre recruitment.          The Salman Mosque foundation, they said, always kept guard, popularized and disseminated information on the danger of NII to various media organizations and propagation media.          For this, the Salam Mosque Foundation urged the government to dissolve NII and declare it as illegal organization in Indonesia. It also called on the government to take legal actions against any side who were involved in the NII activities.         The foundation always cooperated with the relevant sides like ITB, Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) and police to prevent, deter and handle criminal actions with regard to the NII actions.          Currently,  police are monitoring several places in Jakarta where clandestine NII  movement members usually gather. "We have already located concentrations of NII members and their number is only less than one hundred," Jakarta Metropolitan Police operations chief Senior Commissioner Sujarno said.***3*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/a014) 27-04-2011 23:28:5