MUI Deputy Anwar Abbas: The Government Is Also Infiltrated By Persons Destroying The Nation And State

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Anwar Abbas again accused the Indonesian government of being infiltrated by elements destroying the nation and state. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Anwar Abbas retorted against the government's accusations of terrorism infiltrating public institutions and mass organizations. The government is considered to be a hotbed for criminals who have done a lot of harm to the nation and state.

This was conveyed by Abbas as a reaction to the statement from the Director of Deradicalization of the National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) Irfan Idris who said that his party did not intend to accuse a number of institutions whose members were arrested by Densus 88/Anti-terror as terrorist organizations.

"Within the government, there are many actors who destroy the nation and state. It means that the government is also infiltrated by bad and untruthful elements. So my question is what has been done by the government," Abbas said when contacted by VOI via telephone, Sunday afternoon. February 20, 2022.

As is known in November last year, the National Police's Anti-terror Detachment 88 arrested three terrorism suspects in the Bekasi area, West Java. They are Farid Okbah, Anung Al Hamat, and Ahmad Zain An-Najah who are members of the MUI Fatwa Commission.

This active member of the MUI who was arrested is considered to show that the movement of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) cadres has entered various lines in society. This group is considered to have succeeded in carrying out the 'tamkin' strategy or territorial control.

Abbas acknowledged that terrorism is one of the many problems facing this nation, but that there is another threat to the nation that is much bigger. He also questioned why the government is only busy dealing with terrorism, while there are other issues that should be a priority.

"Papua should take precedence. Luhut said that armed violent groups there are terrorists because they cause fear in the community. Let alone ordinary people, the police and soldiers are afraid. So why are the big ones not taken care of, why the not big ones take precedence," he said.

The issue of extremism, radicalism, and terrorism, is seen as not just a bomb explosion. To be able to combat this problem, the government is asked to carefully explore the root of the problem.

Abbas suggested BNPT so far only coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Religion to fight terrorism. According to him, this is wrong because they should be able to coordinate with the community and religious leaders with the aim of simplifying and reducing the budget.

"To deal with this nation's problems together. The BNPT budget is asked to be doubled. If the method I convey involves all parties, the Densus budget can be lowered even 50 percent because the community voluntarily helps so the cost is low," said Anwar Abbas.