Against Terrorism, BNPT Invites Santri In Lombok To Reject Intolerance And Radical Understanding

Chairman of the BNPT Boy Rafli Amar during the Declaration of National Preparedness in Lombok, NTB (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Head of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) Boy Rafli Amar emphasized that terrorism is a serious crime because it not only endangers state security, but also a danger to state ideology and sovereignty, which are feared to damage human values.

"Terrorism destroys the human values of various aspects of the life of the people of the nation and state. As the leading sector in countering terrorism in Indonesia, the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) continues to carry out preventative efforts," said Boy during a visit to Central Lombok to declare National Preparedness, Nusa West Southeast (NTB) as quoted from his written statement, Saturday, November 14.

One of the prevention of acts of terrorism is carried out through National Preparedness activities which will also collaborate with santri groups in the country. According to him, this group is an important pillar in understanding differences.

"Santri are a religious group that brings Islam as a religion of peace by promoting the characteristics of the Hubbul Wathon Minal Iman pesantren or love of the homeland is part of the faith," he said.

With this declaration by cooperating with this santri group, it is hoped that in the future all parties can protect Indonesia from various threats of terrorism. In addition, he also advised the students to reject intolerance in their midst.

"On behalf of the institution, I advise all santri and all participants present in this declaration to remain loyal to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution to uphold diversity, and to always work together to reject intolerance and radical terrorism," he said.

Furthermore, Boy also hopes that the public will raise awareness of the potential for spreading radicalism that can lead to acts of terrorism. He said the santri group was considered vulnerable to the impact of the influence of terrorism from the terrorism network, most of which were also alumni from a number of Islamic boarding schools.

"We do not want Islamic boarding schools to get carried away and deal with the laws in our country," he said.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD, who was also present at the event, said that since ancient times, students were taught to develop the nation and state. So, he continued, no pesantren should be entered into by radicalism in their environment.

"The pesantren should not catch a cold, meaning that they should not enter into radicalism in their environment," said Mahfud.

Furthermore, Mahfud said, the government had tried to promote and pay more attention to pesantren and santri by striving for education to provide job training.

"This is a form of the state's attention to Islamic boarding schools and students in the framework of developing Indonesian human resources with moral character, who have high abilities, and can compete with other countries," he concluded.