Tackling Terrorism

Pakistan might gain from Indonesia

By S.P.SETH

Despite claims by Pakistan’s President Zardari that his country has, more or less, defeated the Taliban, Pakistan remains most vulnerable to terrorism. Which suggests that there is a terrible disconnect between realities on the ground and wishful thinking on the part of Pakistan’s ruling establishment. And this is the crux of the problem.

In this connection, Pakistan might gain some insights from Indonesia’s experience in dealing with terrorism. Which was highlighted recently in the killing of its top terrorist, Noordin Top.

My analysis below about Indonesia in this respect might prove useful.

Indonesia’s police chief, Bambang Hendarso Danuri, was quite right to express his rejoicings over the killing of Noordin Mohammed Top when he reportedly said, “ This is a month full of blessings.” Indeed, it seemed like divine intervention to put an end to the orgy of death and destruction perpetrated by Noordin and his cohorts.

By eluding the police for so long, he had not only created a legend about his invincibility but for some a belief that he was on a divine mission to save Islam. His death has put paid to that myth, though he will be celebrated by militants and jihadists as a martyr of sorts.

The debunking of this mythology is important to reduce the allure for new adherents of somehow becoming part of a higher cause. What it means is until someone else is able to develop that kind of halo and mythology, the terrorist network in Indonesia is truly disrupted and greatly damaged.

In Indonesia where there is a very small pool of believers in the cause (that Islam is in danger), this loss is not going to be easily rectified, if at all.

It is generally acknowledged that Indonesia, under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has done a tremendous job of going after the terrorist network. His re-election as President somehow was dimmed a bit when two Jakarta hotels were bombed about the time when Indonesia experienced the best demonstration of its democratic functioning in free and fair elections.

Noordin’s death, in a highly successful counter-terrorist operation is, therefore timely to almost coincide with SBY’s second term. But, rightly, SBY is not calling it an outright victory, although conceding that the terrorist threat has been “seriously reduced” with Noordin’s death.

As Susilo said, “…we have won a battle” but not yet the war against terrorism. In other words, Indonesia cannot become complacent. It has to continue to hunt the militant networks through better intelligence and follow up police operations.

And for any of this to work effectively, the authorities need to rely on the support and cooperation of the people. In this respect Indonesia is fortunate, as compared to some other Muslim countries, because it doesn’t have a culture of religious extremism—apart from elements on the periphery of the society.

A big problem, though, is that even a relatively small number of ideologically indoctrinated militants can create mayhem by positing that their religion is in extreme danger. And the simplicity of that message can resonate with some people, especially when the message is couched in interpretations from the Holy Book and propagated in some of the pesantrens (boarding schools).

And this can only be countered through widely disseminated education and information from public channels and educational institutions. Besides, there is need to tackle the “ignorance and poverty “ that underpins terrorism.

Jakarta is sometimes criticized for not earnestly fighting the extremist ideology by letting people like Abu Bakar Bashir, Jemaah Islamiah and other similar outfits continue to promote their hateful ideology of Islamic extremism. Undoubtedly, the government can do more to combat this.

The problem, though, is that those making such criticism are short on suggesting specific measures to deal with it. Any measures to outrightly ban such ideological extremism can sometimes be counter-productive by driving its proponents and others underground. And that can make tracking them that much harder. Besides, it tends to create a halo of sorts around them.

Another criticism centers on releasing imprisoned militants into the society after they have served their sentences. Undoubtedly, some of them might drift again into their familiar outfits and roles. But any policy that suggests locking them up forever even when they have shown signs of rehabilitation, will be lacking in necessary flexibility to deal with extremism.

Noordin Top’s death in counter-terrorism operations is certainly a significant development and achievement. However, though Noordin was a major figure in the terrorist pantheon in Indonesia and South East Asia in general, he was no Osama bin Laden as the ideological fountainhead of global terrorism. We should, therefore, keep that in perspective while evaluating his terrorist role.

By the same token, we should thank the Lord that Noordin wasn’t another Osama bin Laden.