Tuesday, 19 January 2016
We unequivocally condemn the terrorist attacks in Jakarta, and stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Indonesia, who are valiantly battling the monstrous manifestations of extremism and various forms of radical ideology.
We express our deepest condolences for the victims of the latest act of terrorism in Indonesia as well as those in other countries like Turkey and Burkina Faso in recent days. No creed, including the compassionate religion of Islam, condones these deliberate targeting of innocent civilians for the achievement of specific political goals.
Terrorism has no religion, for it is negation of basic humanity. These violent acts of cowardice in central Jakarta, claiming the lives of two civilians and injuring 20 others, underscores the growing threat posed by religious extremism, particularly by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its myriad of sympathizers around the world, including in Southeast Asia.
In recent years, Indonesia has emerged as a beacon of democracy, pluralism, and tolerance in Southeast Asia; and this has, unfortunately, made it a target of extremist groups, who oppose the country’s steady and promising democratization. Since its inception, the principle of Pancasila has undergirded Indonesia’s pluralistic and inclusive social order, which has allowed peoples of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds to live largely in peaceful co-existence and harmony.
Obviously, some extremist groups – particularly, those who subscribe to the puritanical Salafist-Wahabi ideology espoused by al-Qaeda (AQ) and ISIS and their sympathizers in Southeast Asia -- oppose this highly veritable secular legacy, which has held such a diverse country like Indonesia together. It is incumbent upon the Indonesian government to battle the spread of extremism and head off further AQ/ISIS-inspired/organized in order to protect its citizens and foreign nationals residing in the country as well as preserve its secular constitutional order and its hard-earned democratization gains.
But the new war against terror, which is supported by much of the international community in light of the horrific rise of ISIS, should not come at the expense of the fundamental civil liberties and democratic rights of citizens. It should be conducted in accordance to rule of law and human rights. It is important to fight terror with due process and democratic values, otherwise Indonesia risks playing into the hands of extremists, who want to undermine the country’s democratic order.
We, as social democrats and progressives, stand together with our Indonesian brethren in this difficult but necessary fight against terror and radicalism in order to preserve democracy and pluralism in our societies.