T

he Defense Ministry says it will work with the leaders of the nation’s major religions to develop a curriculum for its deradicalization center for convicted terrorists in Bogor, West Java.

Pos M. Hutabarat, the Defense Ministry’s defense potential chief, said that radicals could come from any religion, hence the ministry’s broad focus.

“We will work with religious leaders and education experts to formulate the programs,” Pos said.

Pos also said that the center would be located in a compound in Sentul that would also host a military training center for peace and disaster relief operations, a defense university, a national disaster management agency and the National Anti-Terrorism Agency (BNPT).

Pos said that convicted terrorists would receive training and education that would help them return to society after completing the deradicalization program.

The BNPT will run the center under the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said he was optimistic that the center would help terrorists ditch their radical world views.

“Terrorism can’t be solved only by arresting terrorists, because the problem is much more fundamental. We have decided to change the mind-sets of terrorists,” he said on Saturday.

Purnomo also said that cooperation with religious leaders was needed to develop the center.

Democratic Party executive Ulil Abshar Abdalla lauded the plan for a deradicalization center, saying that it was high time for the government to find non-traditional ways to combat radical ideology in Indonesian society.

Ulil said that the center could come up with programs that could help terrorists create normal lives for themselves in society.

“For example, the program could take the form of financing [convicted terrorists] to start up their own small businesses, so they can continue with their lives,” Ulil said.

He cited the example of Nasir Abbas, formerly a prominent figure in the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network and an affiliate of Al-Qaeda.

Abbas trained bombers and led a terrorist training camp in the jungles of Mindanao, the Philippines.

He later discovered that his former students were responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

After his arrest by police, Abbas eventually worked with officials to develop counterterrorism programs.

He has also been active in persuading radicals to abandon their radical ideology.

Pos said that poverty and social injustice could drive people to join radical groups and that to confront poverty, the Defense Ministry had asked the Social Welfare Ministry and local administrations to help improve the quality of life for local people.

Ulil, however, disagreed with the assumption, saying that terrorists often came from well-to-do families.

“Often terrorists come from educated families, members of the middle class. They are well-informed and have great access to technology. Poor people are too busy working. They don’t have time to join terrorist network,” Ulil said. (tas)