Indonesian Radicals

After the Soeharto regime was toppled by the so called Reformasi movement on 20 May 1998, Muslim organizations have flourished in Indonesia.

Many of those organizations were established by certain Muslim persons who claimed to be true followers of Islam, thereby carried out what they believed as Holy War against others who do not share their thoughts. In doing so, they have killed Muslims and non Muslims in Ambon, Palu, Bali, Jakarta and other places in Indonesia. Beside that, they have also been involved in violence in other countries like Afghanistan, Thailand and the Philippines.

Since the change of government in Indonesia on October 2004, a more firm policy have been adopted against those organizations, their leaders were jailed, some of them sentenced to death.

Perhaps it is the above mentioned reasons that motivated Egyptian security agency when they detained, interrogated and tortured four Indonesian students who studied at the Al Azhar University in Cairo. 12 Egyptian Policemen took those students from the house they lived on 28 June 2009 after they found a picture of Syekh Ahmad Yasin, leader of the Palestian Hamas organization, in their home. The students were released after they were detained for 4 days. Details can be read in bahasa Indonesia here, here and here.

Now that the nationalist ruling political party has obtained the biggest votes in last April's parliamentary election, and the incumbent president has won a landslide victory in the presidential election on 8 July, I hope that there would not be anymore violence by anyone no matter what their religion or ethnic or any other backgrounds in the future. That way our people can live in peace and development of our country can be carried much better. In the end, other countries would have more respect on our people.