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Eradicating terrorism must be comprehensive: BNPT
National Terrorism Agency (BNPT) head Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius has asserted terrorism eradication must be conducted fully and comprehensively so it can produce significant results.
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Synergy: National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) head Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius (left) shakes hands with Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) head Ma'ruf Amin (right) after a workshop in Jakarta on March 22. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
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ational Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) head Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius has asserted terrorism eradication must be conducted fully and comprehensively so it can produce significant results.
“We will never be able to eradicate radicalism and terrorism if we do it partially,” he said as quoted by Antara in a workshop in Jakarta on Wednesday.
To tackle terrorism in the cyber world, such as the spreading of extreme teachings and propaganda, the BNPT has synergized with media outlets from 61 government institutions to unite and match perceptions in facing the threats, Suhardi said.
The BNPT has also gathered approximately 600 netizens who have a lot of followers. They are creative young people, including bloggers, information technology experts and those with visual communication design expertise.
Suhardi further explained that along with advances in information technology, terrorists and radical groups had also changed their way of recruiting members. They no longer depended on the prominence of a figure and direct dialogues in luring new members but influenced them via massive propaganda in the cyber world.
As young people are the main target of the radical groups’ propaganda, Suhardi said the BNPT must also work with young people in conveying peaceful messages using language that is easier to understand, especially by younger generations.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma’ruf Amin said eradicating terrorism was not easy; it required synergy among parties. The cyber world is a way terrorists and radical groups can influence and poison society, he added. (rdi/ebf)
