PDI-P uses Islamic wing to reduce radicalism

Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the third largest political party in the country, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said on Friday that the party would use its Islamic wing, the Baitul Muslimin, to reduce radicalism at every level in society.

“Violence is the true face of radicalism everywhere. Therefore, we are obliged to communicate this fact to everyone within our reach so that they can protect themselves from it,” Megawati said as quoted by kompas.com.

She said the Baitul Muslimin, literally meaning "the house of the faithful", was mandated at the party’s last national congress as a response to the needs from the party's internal structure. Noted religious figures like Said Agil Sirodj, chairman of the Nadhlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organization in the country with more than 40 million followers, have become advisers to the new wing.