Seven Singers Detonating Bombs At Istiqlal Mosque In History Today, April 19, 1999

Istiqlal Mosque (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - On April 19, 1999, there was a bombing at the Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta. And the bombing is not the first.

On Friday, April 14, 1978 or not long after its inauguration, the Istiqlal Mosque was also bombed. At that time, Pangdam V / Jaya Major General Norman Sasono stated that the first explosion at the Istiqlal Mosque used TNT or trinitrotuluena explosives.

Launching Kompas, the second explosion at Istiqlal occurred in the office center located on the ground floor. The explosion occurred precisely at the edge of the corridor of the Indonesian Women's Islamic Organization Deliberation Council (BMOIWI) secretariat office.

In the aftermath of the explosion, the layers of black marble on the walls of the mosque were broken. The office doors and glass were also reportedly broken.

Other offices around BMOIWI, including the office of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) also experienced broken glass. Based on forensic examination, the explosion came from TNT with the trigger of the KClO3 explosion.

At that time, the Head of the Metro Jaya Regional Police (Kapolda), Maj. Gen. (Pol) Noegroho Djajoesman, two months after the incident revealed the suspected perpetrator of the explosion at the Istiqlal Mosque. On Monday, June 14, 1999, he said that seven field officers were directly involved in the explosion.

The seven perpetrators have been detained at Polda. The seven suspects had the initials Wwn, Nri, Bo, Smi, Jpa, Srd, and Usi. All the suspects work as buskers who used to go around the Istiqlal Mosque.

Arrests were made in several places in Jakarta and Tangerang. The police managed to make an arrest after collecting various statements from witnesses.

Pressure for the perpetrator

According to Noegroho's testimony, one of the suspects, Wwn, was visited by an unknown person in early April 1999. This person showed a photo of Wwn's family, threatening to molest his family if he did not cooperate.

Since then, Wwn admitted that he had never seen this person again and had only received written orders. Wwn and the six suspects then carried out the order to carry out an explosion in Istiqlal.

Until now, no one knows the reason behind the detonation. And the figure who pressured the suspects to carry out the terror attack at the Istiqlal Mosque remains a mystery.

In the same year, to be precise in October, another explosion occurred in Jakarta. This time the explosion occurred in front of the Senayan Convention Center and the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

The explosion came from a homemade bomb. As a result of the explosion, one person was killed and 15 others were injured.

Renovation

In January 2021, the Istiqlal Mosque was inaugurated after extensive renovations. Istiqlal Mosque now also has a more modern security system.

The largest mosque in Southeast Asia is fitted with CCTV cameras at various points. This is to anticipate and prevent crime.

"For the current security personnel it is sufficient. But we are also planning to recruit more security personnel," said Istiqlal Mosque's Deputy Head of Worship Services, Abu Hurairah.

The President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo expressed his high appreciation for the renovation process not only maximizing the function of the mosque as a place of worship. Jokowi assessed that the renovation took into account the aspects of architecture, art, aesthetics, and still maintained the rules of the cultural heritage of the mosque building.

"The renovation of the Istiqlal Mosque to make it more magnificent is not to be dashing, it is not only the pride of Muslims but also the pride of all Indonesian people, the pride of our nation, Indonesia," said Jokowi.

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