Dani Dwi Permana died a quick death. Two suicide bombers razed JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, two high-end hotels in Jakarta on July 17, 2009. They killed seven innocent people. Dani was one of the bombers. He was an 18-year-old schoolboy.
Why would a teenager do what he did? How can civil society prevent its youth from carrying out such radical acts? What can youth itself do to establish peace and a world without violence?
Why does violent radicalization occur, and in Indonesia, particularly by supposed adherents to Islam, a religion of peace? Dr. Yon Machmudi, the director of research and education at the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Indonesia, cited numerous reasons. They include economic inequality, social exclusion, religious interpretation that encourages radical actions, a charismatic leader, a feeling of worthlessness that such a leader can exploit, and a sense of an uncompromising, armed struggle for liberation.
These points match the findings of researcher Noor Huda Ismail. Based on interviews with militants, Ismail found three factors as to why they act with violence.
First, global injustice. This is the notion that the West is the cause of the sufferings of Muslims around the world.
Second, an enchantment with martyrdom. "Life is not the life of a fowl: eat, excrete and marry. Life's purpose is to maintain faith and jihad, a struggle, and die fighting for it", Ismail quotes an imprisoned militant.
Third is the presence of an authority figure who acts as a rallying point for those disenchanted. For the bombers, that figure is Noordin M. Top. Noordin was killed in a shootout with an antiterrorist police unit in Surakarta, Central Java, on Sept. 17.
Machmudi argues that defeating violent radicalization by military means could create new clandestine groups in the community. He believes community development that ensures all its members live in harmony could foster peace.
For youth especially, community development could cover access to education with scholarships, holding arts and sports competitions, offering loans for entrepreneurial schemes, opening religious instruction for peace and engaging in care and assistance activities.
Further, what can the youth do themselves? In education, peace education should be part of school curriculums. In arts and sports, exchange programs with regularly-occurring international festivals should be promoted.
In media and ICT, free websites for higher education to promote peace building should be established.
Further, youth should access alternative media like blogs, citizen journalism, and social networking sites for nonviolent activism. In community development, cross-cultural and interfaith dialogues for local youth should be conducted. Further, the government and the private sector should be engaged to empower local economies.
Although much is expected from them, the youth of all nations can only do so much. To work toward a world without violence and radicalism, the call is not just to the world's youth. All sections of this global society are to engage in a meaningful way in this work.
The stakeholders are leaders and policy makers; governments; international organizations; parliaments and political parties; institutions of education; NGOs; youth, women's and religious organizations; the media; private enterprise and labor movements.
The bottom line is that prevention rather than a cure to violence should be primary. In family homes and in schools, the universal values of respect, appreciation and caring toward fellow human beings should be instilled and ingrained at an early age.
The words of Mahatma Gandhi echoed in the conference hall: "If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." This is achievable in the life time of today's children.
The writer teaches journalism and has conducted workshops on development reporting at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta.
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