Panji Gumilang's Double-Game

The National Police conducted Operation Kresna three years ago to investigate the network of the Islamic State of Indonesia (NII)’s Area 9 Command. Panji Gumilang, the imam (religious leader) of the movement, was the prime target. All the evidence had been gathered, but the operation ran into a wall when it reached higher levels of command. It is strongly suspected that the police were obstructed by political interest groups and the intelligence community.

Throughout its history, the radical NII movement were involved in operations run by the intelligence forces. Panji Gumilang was seen as a counterforce aimed at breaking up the remaining supporters of the rebel S.M. Kartosoewirjo, the first imam of the NII.

Through the Al-Zaytun Islamic Boarding School, Panji used a different stratagy: developing a center of education, all the while expanding the wings of the organization. He recruited members and raised funds through coercion. He would promise politicians to deliver votes just before elections. Some people claim Panji’s charm was hard to resist.

This is the story of a man with many faces: the revered leader of a religious boarding school, an imam of a movement targeted by police and a businessman with close relations to the intelligence community.