Mahfud MD Calls The Government Aware Of The Development Of Radical Ideology In Educational Institutions

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD (ANTARA)

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD reminded all parties of the dangers of threats of ideological attacks related to acts of terrorism.

According to Mahfud, the threat of ideology is different from the territorial threat. The reason is, territorial threats can be seen directly, while ideological threats are not.

"The territorial threat is interference with the physical area, but (threats) ideology is a disturbance to the spirit of our unity, security, and comfort in the context of a common ideology," Mahfud said as quoted on Wednesday, July 5.

He said that the ideological threat is secretly infiltrated and can occur anywhere so that it will be very dangerous if not watched out for.

"Threats against ideology exist in various places, in the form of terrorism, in villages, in cities, terrorism can arise and it is very dangerous," he said.

Mahfud then highlighted the downward trend of terrorism attacks in Indonesia. In 2018, there were 19 terror attacks recorded, then 11 times in 2019 and 2020, six times in 2021, and twice in 2022.

Even though the trend of terrorism attacks in Indonesia has decreased, Mahfud reminded that the threat still exists, such as infiltration of radicalism in educational institutions.

"Because now there are infiltrations, it was mentioned earlier that the cadre of radicalism or radicalization in these educational institutions is now entering," he added.

He explained that radicalism is an attitude of disapproval of the Pancasila ideology, against the government, and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

Therefore, Mahfud assessed that the four knowledge products from the analysis and study launched by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) could be used as a reference to prevent the threat of an ideological attack related to terrorism.

"The launch of four products today, I saw earlier, will touch all of them. How to prevent aspects of maintaining the situation so that we continue to be safe, then the aspect of prosecution has been mentioned from the center to the regions. Hopefully this will become a reference for us together," he said.

Previously, BNPT launched four knowledge products in the form of an analysis and study related to the response to violent-based extremism that led to terrorism in Indonesia, Monday, July 3.

The four knowledge products launched are I-KHub BNPT Counter Terrorism and Violence Extreme Outlook; K-Hub PCVE Outlook; Mid-Term Evaluation RAN PE; and Analysis of Local Government Readiness to Implement RAN PE.