Joko Widodo’s wise words mobilise his nation against terrorists

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is right to say that the horrific terrorist acts in Surabaya have nothing to do with religion.

In saying this, the Indonesian President is not denying that the terrorists, who appear to belong to a group that has pledged its allegiance to Islamic State, proclaim a twisted version of Islam. Instead, he is attempting to mobilise his whole nation against the terrorists.

Indonesia is a nation of 260 million people, more than 85 per cent of whom are Muslims. No Indonesian president will ever accept that terrorism represents anything like a legitimate strand of Islamic thought and practice.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim majority state in the world, has a good record of combating terrorism.

Its biggest Muslim organisations — Nadhlatal Ulama and Mohammadiya — are doughty foes of extremism.

And the Indonesian police have caught, killed or brought to trial more terrorists than any other police force in the democratic world.

Indeed it was striking that as well as the shocking sectarianism of attacking Christian places of worship, the terrorists in Surabaya attacked the police.

Yet at the same time, there is a gathering tide of conservatism and even a degree of generally non-violent intolerance increasingly running through Indonesian Islam.

This was evident in the mass demonstrations against, and subsequent jailing of, the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, over what seemed to be very tenuous charges of blasphemy.

There is no doubt that Widodo is an enemy of Islamic extremism in Indonesia, both violent extremism and non-violent extremism. He has promoted moderates and inclusive figures across government and in the police and security forces.

However, he is a president without his own strong Islamic credentials and similarly without his own military credentials.

Partly as a result, he has been very careful in the way he has handled Islamic issues and Islamic organisations.

The last Indonesian president with strong independent Islamic credentials was Abdurrahman Wahid, in office nearly 20 years ago, and he, in no coincidence, was the strongest voice Indonesia has had for religious tolerance and inclusion.

Security forces have long predicted that returning fighters from Iraq and Syria would cause a renewed terror threat in Southeast Asia.

This is combined with large numbers of jihadists who have completed jail terms and are now being released. Indonesia has been good at arresting and prosecuting terrorists, but like most nations, has had little success at deradicalising them.

That Islamic State could inspire a mum and dad and four kids to act as suicide bombers indicates the depth and strength and persistence and utter perversion of this terrorist ideology.

Widodo is very careful to try to keep the Indonesian state aligned with the broad sentiment of the Islamic mainstream of his nation, who will overwhelmingly feel revulsion at the Surabaya outrage. He is not being mealy mouthed. He is trying to mobilise his nation against extremists.

As Malcolm Turnbull indicated, it is overwhelmingly in Australia’s interests if he succeeds.