Empower individuals to fight radicalism 

Manama : To fight radicalism, countries should begin by injecting individuals with strong values that immune them from foreign persuasions, said a popular Islamic Activist and Politician.

Wahid Foundation Director Yenny Wahid said this while speaking to DT News on their successful Indonesian experience in fighting radicalism.

Speaking on the sidelines of her participation as a speaker in the 13th edition of the Regional Security Summit Bahrain “Manama Dialogue 2017” held here on December 8-10, Wahid said, “In Southeast Asia we probably have less challenge fighting radicalism than here in the Middle East, despite having the largest Muslim population in the world. Out of 200 million Muslims living in Indonesia, only 500 went to fight in Syria. While in other countries, such as some European states where they have few millions of Muslims, thousands went to fight in Syria.”

“We could attribute our success to the very strong sense of identity of our country, making it easier for the society to say no to violence. It is important to have a country identity and a set of values that people believe in. We have five principles we call ‘Pancasila’ that enables us to imagine ourselves as a society. We are bound by these values. They are five principles that we adhere to. The first is that we believe in supreme God. Second is about humanity. The third is about unity. The fourth one is about consensus and democracy and the fifth is about social justice,” she explained.

Wahid added, “So when people feel they have an identity based on these value, they become more immune to other persuasions, such as radicalism. We did a research which showed that the more people believe in the state ideology, the less they become prone to be radicalized.”  

The politician called for organising more international conferences and discussions such as the Manama Dialogue, commenting that “they will benefit nations despite their differences”.

Manama Dialogue is organised annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) for the past 12 years, under the patronage of the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Wahid was one of three key international politicians who spoke in a televised panel held on the opening of Manama Dialogue. The discussion was titled “After Raqqa: Stabilising the Middle East and Fighting Terrorism Worldwide”.

The two other speakers were King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Board Chairman HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Iraqi Foreign Minister and Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari.