Academics: Not Everyone Who Is Exposed To Radicalism Is Closed To Society

Illustration of rejection of radicalism. (Between/Maulana Surya)

JAKARTA - Academician from the State University of Surabaya (UNESA) Ahmad Basri revealed, not everyone who has been exposed to radicalism has become closed to the public.

Ahmad conveyed this when giving a presentation at a national seminar entitled "Prevention of Radicalism-Terrorism as well as the release of the "Book Snatching Terrorism" which was broadcast on the YouTube channel of the UNESA Ideology Development Center, Monday 30 May.

"It's not easy to detect who has been exposed to radicalism because in reality it's not like our knowledge. Not all terrorists are closed and don't want to socialize," said Ahmad, who is also a member of the writing team for the "Book Snatching Terrorism" from Antara.

Ahmad said, initially, the authors of the book assumed that people who have been exposed to radicalism and become terrorists will become closed and do not want to socialize with the community. "Initially it was an indication that they were exposed," he added.

However, after conducting interviews, his party found that there were terrorist actors who were known to be friendly and often interacted with the people in their environment.

In fact, he said, residents who previously interacted with a terror actor thought that the figure was a good person before knowing his involvement with terror activities.

“They become good people in the community. Even famous for giving snacks, giving food, and likes to give alms," he said.

Therefore, he said, even though in some cases the terrorists or people who have been exposed to radical ideologies have become closed, this cannot be the only indication because a number of terrorists actually behave well in their environment and show intimacy.

He revealed that not all members of a terror network are connected or know each other. Based on the interviews he conducted, there were even two terrorists in one RT who did not know each other and did not know each other.

“After participating in the interview, it turns out that they live in one RT but they don't know that it is their group or their network. This is related to the point of the network dropping out," he said.