O

nce again, Bima came to the police’s attention in mid-April when a dentist called Yuni Ardhy was arrested for his alleged involvement in terrorist networks in Bali and Aceh.

Coincidently, the 40-year-old dentist is my neighbor and my little girl saw him several times for teeth treatment. His arrest is simply a big surprise, especially for me and the rest of the people in the neighborhood, since the dentist is well-known for his humble attitude and character.

As I heard from a next-door neighbor, Yuni and his colleague, Kamaluddin, were arrested by the Densus 88 anti-terrorism unit on Jl. Bugenviel in Tolomundu, Bima, on April 13. The two were stopped on their way back from attending a Friday sermon at Al-Muwahiddin Grand Mosque.

Locals, including myself, have no idea at all about the latest happenings with the suspects. But according to the local newspaper, the anti-terror squad has flown them to Jakarta.

Yuni has resided in Bima for five to seven years. His clinic on Jl. Datok Dibanta, named after the legendary Malay Islamic propagator (muballigh) Datok Dibandang, is among the most luxurious in the city.

The only clue that the locals have in mind about his arrest is for allegedly sheltering Kamaluddin, accused of fleeing a terrorist training camp in Aceh. Kamaluddin is also allegedly known for his skills in weapons assembly and involvement in terrorist attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi. Kamaluddin, a friend of Yuni’s, has also been on the police’s wanted list for his alleged role in the robberies of the CIMB Niaga Bank in Medan, in Purwakarta and a local gold shop in Bima.

Bima’s link to terrorism was apparently substantiated when Ustadz Abrory M Ali, alias Maskadov, leader of Umar Bin Khattab Islamic boarding school (pesantren) located in Sila, Bolo district, was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment in March for terrorism. Police had found home-made bombs inside the school.

Abrory followers Sa’ban, Rahman (alias Umar Sa’ban bin Abdurrahman), Rahmat Ibnu Umar (alias Rahmat bin Effendi), Rahmat Hidayat and Asrak (alias Tauhid) were each sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ in jail.

As I witnessed, the pesantren has been closed down and its pupils moved to a number of Islamic boarding schools in Java. Local people no longer see women wearing veils and men dressed in jalabiya (Arabic clothes) walking down the streets and through traditional markets.

Pesantren became associated with terrorism following a series of terrorist attacks in Indonesia several years ago. Needless to say, fellow Indonesians and foreigners also seem to believe that some of the country’s pesantren might be linked to international terrorist networks and serve as “breeding grounds of terror”.

But is it true that Bima now breeds terrorists?

Answering the question will not be a merely scholarly discourse and would perhaps be an intellectual waste of time if we are not generating any practical action.

Bima has a track record of radical movements that challenge the country’s ideology. Over the years, several ustadz (teachers), clerics and ulema were imprisoned for their involvement in terror attacks. Abrory’s father, Ali, was jailed because of his connection with the Warsidi radical group in Lampung in 1980s.

Muma Gani Masykur, one of Muhammadiyah’s leading figures in Bima, and a cell-mate of Ali, told me about his experience when he was jailed about 15 years ago due to the government’s suspicion of his meeting with Nurhidayat, founder of Komando Mujahidin Fisabilillah (KMF) in Lampung. The group aspired to form an Islamic state.

Muma, together with 26 prisoners including Ali, was released in December 1998.

To conclude, at the time of Yuni’s arrest, I just arrived back from Uswatun Hasanah Mosque, a base of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) founded by firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. Bima has now become the only branch of JAT outside of Solo in Central Java. Before his arrest, Ba’asyir used to deliver sermons in that mosque and in other mosques when visiting Bima.

The arrest of Yuni and the imprisonment of Abrory will provide a nuance, even for humble readers, that Bima is emerging as a breeding ground of terrorism in eastern Indonesia. Whether it is true or not, only time will prove it.

The writer, who is a PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology at the Australia National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific, is doing field research in Bima.