Devi Asmarani, Yogyakarta – The authorities in this cultural hub of Indonesia have declared war on militant Muslim groups whose presence in the city has given rise to a negative image of it being a "breeding ground for religious radicals".
Leading the charge is Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who is working closely with community leaders to weed out Islamic radicals who are blamed for driving away foreign tourists.
The city, ranked as a special province, wants the world to know that radicals are not welcome here, and it is encouraging residents not to tolerate groups and individuals who preach hatred and militancy in their communities.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono said in an interview: "We are trying to invoke the people's awareness to fight radicalism, in addition to regular crimes in their neighbourhoods. Over the last 12 months, in close cooperation with the police and community leaders, we have successfully isolated this extremist element of individuals and organisations and they have moved outside the boundaries of the province."
The Sultan, a revered cultural figure who is also an administrator, said the radical groups had a tiny presence in Yogyakarta with most of their followers coming from other provinces. But their impact had been grave on the province, one of the country's top tourist destinations.
Some international media, he said, had wrongly and carelessly referred to the province as a "nest of extremism" and a "fundamentalist Islamic state".
And since the Bali blasts in October, many countries had imposed travel warnings on Indonesia, delivering a further blow to the province with the number of foreign visitors plunging drastically.
In reality, the Sultan said, most people in Yogyakarta were opposed to these groups and their teachings. "The vast majority of Indonesian Muslims are historically moderate by nature. So the introduction of radical Islamic thoughts by external influences has caused a growing concern at all levels of our community," he said.
The now disbanded Laskar Jihad, whose armed members fought in the sectarian conflicts in Maluku, was one of the radical organisations often identified with Yogyakarta. The group dissolved itself a week after the Bali blasts.
"Laskar Jihad never actually operated here, but some of their leaders rented some homes and lived here," the Sultan said. But residents in the Sleman regency, where they lived, had pressured the government to force them out of their neighbourhood.
Earlier this year, the radicals moved to Sukoharjo, 60 km north of here. "They have largely tainted our city, and the fact that they have moved to Sukoharjo has hardly changed people's perceptions of us," he said.
Yogyakarta is also the home of Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, the conservative organisation led by detained militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir that has been campaigning for the imposition of Islamic laws in the country.
But even the province's chapter of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, the country's highest religious body, said the organisation was not welcome here, he said.
When Bashir, who is in police custody for alleged involvement in terror attacks, was detained in his home town in Solo in Central Java, his supporters held a demonstration in Yogyakarta. The proximity of Solo has left Yogyakarta stuck with the image that it is besieged by radicals.
The Sultan said he wanted to continue pushing radicalism out of his territory, even if there was no proof linking the groups to terror acts. This included reviving civilian security surveillance groups and telling community leaders to intensify identity checks of visitors in their neighbourhoods.
Residents were also obliged to report any suspicious activity to the authorities, he said. His administration is also fostering dialogue between religions to encourage tolerance.