Present at the declaration were Wijaya Kusuma Military Command chief Col. Nono Sumarsono, Banyumas Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Untung Widyatmoko, rectors and local student executive board (BEM) members.
The universities represented at the event included Unsoed, STAIN Islamic college and a number of
student organizations such as Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), Association of Islamic Students (HMI) and
Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM).
The NII, which began in the early 1950s, has been blamed for the disappearance of several university students in different regions who were allegedly brainwashed into joining the movement.
”The presence of the separatist movement on campuses, including Unsoed, has caused public anxiety,” Unsoed BEM president Muharam Nurdiyan said in a press release. “The phenomenon has also tainted the image of our university. BEM and all academics at Unsoed today declare the fight against every separatism movement.”
”Every student is ready to join hands and support any form of prevention and action against all kinds of separatism,” Muharam added.
The NII is believed to have a presence at Unsoed with at least 43 students reported to have joined the NII.
Some who “escaped” the group reported to university authorities on the change of religious ideology they experienced, including the parents of a number of students “victimized” by the NII. Authorities provided counseling.
”We are obviously very concerned with the phenomenon, and we are committed to fighting it,” Unsoed rector professor Edy Yuwono said.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said he had ordered student’s movements be monitored on campus.
”We are working with all university rectors in Central Java to track the NII so university authorities also know what to do when a suspicious movement appears,” Aritonang told The Jakarta Post.
Central Java Police are also monitoring vocational schools, which they believe could also be infiltrated by terrorists. Police are working with religious leaders to provide counseling at all vocational schools in the province.
“It is important to provide students with the right religious knowledge so they are protected from the start,” Aritonang said.
In Jakarta, the University of Indonesia announced plans to organize a general lecture on the topic to educate the public about the controversial NII movement.
The lecture is expected to cover various aspects of the movement and explain how members of the public could avoid falling prey to the NII, a press release sent to news portal
tribunnews.com on Thursday read.
In Jambi, Riau, the spread of NII ideology is causing anxiety among residents in Batanghari regency, where NII followers are believed to be present.
The issue was highlighted by the head of the Batanghari branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), M.N. Parlindungan. He said there were 12 suspected NII members in the regency.
“Thankfully, they don’t gather or carry out religious activities in Batanghari, but they are believed to visit Jambi to attend religious services. We are still investigating the matter,” he said.
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