After Jamaah Islamiyah

THE Jamaah Islamiyah group has announced its dissolution. But the threat of terrorism in Indonesia could still come in the future.

The dissolution of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) was announced by the former leaders of the group accused of involvement in a number of terrorist attacks in the 2000s. These leaders included Abu Rusydan, who read the declaration on June 30 and subsequently uploaded a video of the statement to YouTube. Rusydan said that the group would “be actively involved in promoting independence and the development of Indonesia.” The event was attended by 16 senior JI members, including Abu Rusydan, Para Wijayanto and Zarkasih.

At the event, hundreds of members of the group promised to no longer use violence. They claimed that they would abandon extremist thinking and stop spreading their teachings.

Para Wijayanto, a former emir who was arrested by the Special Detachment (Densus) 88 Anti-Terror force in 2019, is reported to have initiated the event. The detachment made the arrangements for the meeting in a hotel. This promise, if it is kept, is indeed an important phase in the transition of Jamaah Islamiyah into a nonviolent organization. However, we are still waiting to see the real impact of the ‘dissolution’ that went ahead with the support of the security forces.

According to the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, an organization that studies terrorism, the dissolution of JI is a strategy on the part of its membership to continue its existence and safeguards it assets. This is because its room for maneuver was severely restricted after being declared responsible for the Christmas 2000 bombings, the 2002 Bali bombing and other terrorist attacks. Densus 88 made a series of arrests of people believed to be linked to the group, which was affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Jamaah Islamiyah has 6,000 members—another source claims 10,000. It runs Islamic boarding schools and other schools in a number of regions. The group may have carried out a profit and loss analysis and concluded that the only way to protect these assets was to rid itself of the radical label.

The group is to establish a new entity focused on education. Its members will no longer be involved in military training overseas. The aim of bringing about an Islamic state will be pursued through peaceful methods in Islamic boarding schools.

One thing worth noting is that it is almost certain that not all of the members agree with this change. Its history shows that JI has had repeated splits, one of which led to the formation of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid. It is not impossible that a group that does not agree with the disillusion will establish a new organization. In the world of terrorism, a leadership vacuum or the dissolution of a group does not always lead to the threat disappearing. History shows us that terrorist groups are often able to adapt and transform, establishing new identities that make them more difficult to track or to defeat.

Moreover, terrorism is an inseparable part of international political developments. As long as there are still conflicts around the world—often referred to as ‘religious conflicts’—radical groups will continue to appear. Therefore, although Jamaah Islamiyah has declared its dissolution, we must maintain our vigilance against the threat of terrorism.