The recent arrest of Abdullah Sunata for his alleged role in acts of terrorism has added pressure on the government to change its de-radicalize program, which is deemed as a failure.
Researcher Umar Abduh said on Saturday the government was too busy hunting down and shooting suspected terrorists and refused to treat them as part of a family.
“The government should have hired people with knowledge and charm, whom the suspected terrorists respect, to help them give up their radical views,” Umar told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Umar was a member of the Jihad command, a radical group held responsible for the Garuda plane hijack in Don Muang airport in Bangkok in 1981.
He criticized the government for employing clerics who failed to win respect from convicted terrorists.
“The program will not reduce their militancy. They will stay the same,” he said.
Nearly 600 terror suspects have been netted so far, but only about 20 are considered reformed and actively working with police. Sunata is among those who returned to their old ways after serving jail terms.
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