Extremism In Indonesia

Click on the title for the complete IHT Op-Ed piece, by Michael Vatikiotis. He is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

Amid global fears about the spread of Islamic militancy, the last thing anyone wants to hear about is creeping fundamentalism in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation. But these fears have become more palpable in recent weeks.

Indonesia's highest Muslim body has issued religious edicts banning mixed marriages, religious pluralism and interfaith prayers. A series of attacks has forced the closure of Christian churches. And in the province of Aceh, where the government has reached an agreement with the pro-independence movement to end a long-running insurgency, a woman was publicly flogged and more than a dozen men have been caned in the past three months for breaching newly introduced Shariah, or Islamic law.

Wahhabism made its debut in Indonesia in the early 1800s. Other than a few brief and ineffective flashes, it remained largely benign until the 1980s and 1990s; when the rise of technology permitted the freer and more efficient flow of Wahhabi propaganda first through print, and later the internet.

So I would like to welcome Mr. Vatikiotis to the community of believers that have already figured this out a long time ago.

The problem with mixing Islam and politics is that a dogmatic view tends to prevail because of Muslims' fears of being branded apostates. Indonesia is not becoming an Islamic state anytime soon, but its political leaders are prone to exploiting Islam for short-term ends that could have lasting consequences.

Since the fall of Suharto, one of the more prominent Islamic rebel groups, Laskar Jihad, has been directly influenced by Wahhabism and is now calling for an end to elections, on religious grounds.

So Mr. Vitakiotis is getting some of it, but he still has a way to go. This movement stands a very good chance of exploding within Indonesia, in the next few years. This not only threatens that country, but Asia as a whole.

China? Are you watching? You are not immuned.

Now is the time to get on the bandwagon and help stop the spread of jihadism. Don't let your need for oil cloud your thinking.