NU: Indonesia must be united to reject IS ideology

Jakarta, NU Online
Member of the Advisory Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Jusuf Kalla said on Monday that Indonesia must be united in an effort to repel the ideology of the Islamic State (IS) movement.<>

"Learning from existing development, we have to improve our nation because it will not be easy for IS ideology to penetrate if our state is strong," Kalla said at the opening of the International Conference on Terrorism and IS in Jakarta.

The conference was attended by, among others, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, former State Intelligence Agency director AM Hendropriyono and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Zulkifli Hasan.

The vice president said that IS appeared not because of ideology but because of a combination of issues relating to politics, state stability and economics.

"If the state is not stable and if it is split and further burdened by a weak economy, unsuitable ideologies will easily enter," Kalla said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He reiterated that Indonesia had to remain united and improve its political climate and at the same time improve the welfare of its people.

"How to resist the entrance of an ideology? We can quote Malala who strongly opposed the Taliban: 'They can shoot my body, but they can't shoot my mind'. Anybody can kill someone, but any mind cannot be subdued. Therefore it's time to have a proper mind," he said.

The Vice President urged all parties to help improve the nation and maintain stability and spread moderate thinking because on a basic level, Indonesian Islam is moderate Islam.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq