Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The much-publicised three-day meeting of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) was meant to show that the radical Islamic movement is very much alive despite the fact that its leader Abu Bakar Bashir is on trial for terrorism.
But a poor turnout at the MMI's national congress in the Central Java town of Solo which ends today shows that the ground may be turning against the militants.
A host of political leaders, including Vice-President Hamzah Haz and Cabinet minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, backed out from the meeting at the last minute. Both men are leaders of Islamic-based political parties which have been supportive of the MMI's cause.
Less than 2,000 people showed up at the event's opening ceremony on Sunday, much fewer than the promised 15,000 supporters. If it were not for the extensive local and foreign media coverage, many locals said they would not have been aware of the event – the second since Bashir founded it three years ago – in their town.
A Muslim scholar specialising in militant movements, Mr Khamami Zada, told The Straits Times: "Compared to when they started, MMI's popularity is on a decline because the escalating terrorist attacks have been linked to militant religious followers." He supported recent media polls that said most moderate Muslims in Indonesia believe the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is behind the Bali and Jakarta bombings and other terrorist attacks. Also, apart from Bashir, other senior members of the movement have been imprisoned on terrorism charges. They include Agus Dwikarna in the Philippines and Mohamad Iqbal Abdurrahman or Abu Jibril in Malaysia.
Unlike the shadowy JI, the MMI is a formal organisation with branches in several provinces. It openly campaigns for the imposition of syariah, or Islamic law, in Indonesia.
It has vowed to stand by Bashir, believing he has been wronged in a "grand design" by the West to undermine Islam. But experts said religious militancy has been losing moral support since the Bali bombings last October.
Some of the Bali bombing suspects were allegedly linked to Bashir while he was a preacher in exile in Malaysia. And a man believed to be the suicide bomber in last week's bomb attack at the JW Marriott Hotel is a graduate of Bashir's Islamic boarding school in Solo.
Like other fringe groups, the MMI took shape after the fall of the Suharto regime and flourished under the government of Mr Abdurrahman Wahid.
A government source said: "In the beginning, association with fringe groups like the MMI was politically correct because they were supposedly marginalised and even victimised by the Suharto regime. Nowadays, I think politicians know not to get too close with these groups, fearing implication for their political career."
The MMI's influence over the media could also be dwindling, observers said. Last year, the group succeeded in making local TV channels withdraw advertisements and programmes it deemed un-Islamic, including a public service message that preached moderate and tolerant Islamic teaching.