Dessy Sagita, Anita Rachman & Amir Tejo – An Islamic boarding school in Indramayu, West Java, has come under scrutiny after a group of activists claimed it was recruiting for the outlawed Indonesian Islamic State movement.
Asrorun Ni'am Saleh, vice chairman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) said the commission would set up a fact-finding team following the report from a nongovernment organization that the Al Zaytun Islamic boarding school was instilling the extremist views of the movement, also known as the NII. "We have received a report from the NII Crisis Center," Asrorun said of the allegations against the Al Zaytun pesantren.
The NII Crisis Center Rehabilitation Team, an NGO formed to gather and share information about NII victims, says Al Zaytun has been teaching its students to become Muslim extremists.
"These children should be stopped from enrolling in Al Zaytun. They have to be saved," said Ken Setiawan, one of the pioneers of NII Crisis Center and a former follower of the NII.
Composed primarily of former NII members, the crisis center has access and information about NII recruitment and the methods it uses to lure students into extremism. "It's no secret that funds collected by NII members were used to develop Al Zaytun," Ken said.
He said the crisis center had reported its suspicions about NII recruitment at Al Zaytun to the police, the House of Representatives and other relevant institutions.
Al Zaytun alumni were spread all over Indonesia, Ken said, and it was possible they were spreading their beliefs wherever they went.
Asrorun said the KPAI has standard operating procedures for its fact-finding team but added, "We will do whatever it takes to protect Indonesian children, including from deviant beliefs."
Al Zaytun secretary Abdul Halim denied any link between the institution and NII, saying it was a legal education institution set up under a permit from the Ministry of National Education.
"Our curriculum follows the national education system. This institution teaches about tolerance and cultural development, nothing else. We don't have any affiliation to the NII," he said.
Abdul Halim said Al Zaytun always encouraged its students to keep in contact with their parents to ensure they were not exposed to deviant beliefs. "We have received no complaints from parents about any behavioral change during their children's time in Al Zaytun," he said.
However, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), citing research conducted into activities at Al Zaitun in 2002, found that although the school's curriculum was standard, the leader of the school was suspected to be involved with the NII.
"We were afraid that the leader's affiliation with NII could affect his students," said MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin, adding that although it had recommended the government replace the school's committee, the recommendation was ignored.
Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said NII posed a threat to the nation's sovereignty. He said it was dangerous to have groups influencing people's minds with the aim of creating an Islamic state.
"That is what we need to fight together," he said. "We are living in a democratic country that gives freedom to people, but this freedom must still be within the confines of the law," he said.
AM Fatwa, a Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member, said teenagers were vulnerable to recruitment by hard-liners. However, he warned that a government de-radicalization program would not be sufficient to thwart radicalism. He said schools and teachers should be involved and promote programs against the brainwashing.
[With additional reporting by Zacky Pawas and Arientha Primanita.]