Talking about terrorism in Indonesia

IT'S a challenge to make a wholesome comic-book hero out of a convicted mass-murderer. So applaud the Indonesian artists who took Ali Imron, the lone surviving member of the terrorist squad behind the Bali bombings—an attack that killed 202 people—and did just that. Mr Imron’s star turn, printed in garish colours on pulpy paper, might naturally raise a few eyebrows. 

But the result, “Ketika Nurani Bicara” (“When the conscience speaks”) is no action romp designed to thrill excitable boys. As a graphic novel, it concerns itself with many aspects of the first Bali bombing, in October 2002. It focuses on Mr Imron as he experiences feelings of doubt and remorse, and also on the families of the people who were killed and the volunteers who tried to help the wounded. Produced by Lazuardi Birru, an NGO that attempts to tackle Islamist extremism in Indonesian society, it was made for Indonesian Muslims between the ages of 14 and 20. Most of its initial print run of 10,000 was distributed for free in Bahasa Indonesian and will be published more widely this month. There are plans to have it translated into Sundanese, Javanese and Malay. 

The graphic-novel genre is not exactly a newcomer to political issues and violence. In the Middle East it has been used with great skill by Marjane Satrapi to depict revolutionary Iran, in her “Persepolis” series, as by the Maltese-American Joe Sacco with “Palestine” and other titles, and a graphic novel provided inspiration for Ari Folman’s Oscar-nominated animated documentary, “Waltz with Bashir”. But this new South-East Asian entry to the field has taken a somewhat different aim. “Ketika Nurani Bicara” wants to confront the very arguments used by extremists who recruit young men and it addresses the popular media directly. It is a graphic novel pitched as a practical guide to avoiding radicalism—a form of pre-emptive deprogramming. 

An emphasis on prevention has been notably lacking in the Indonesian state’s anti-terrorism strategy. For all the apparent success of police crackdowns against militant foot-soldiers and leaders, new cells are yet forming and major attacks have punctuated the years since the Bali bombing (more of Jakarta’s hotels were bombed in 2009). Last month an anonymous official in the ministry for co-ordinating security affairs complained to the Jakarta Post that the other ministries are hindered by a widespread belief that Indonesian militancy is the product of Western agitations aimed at discrediting Islam. Perhaps needless to say, this attitude tends to get in the way of the government’s overall anti-terrorism strategy. 

A survey conducted by Lazuardi Birru and the Indonesian Survey Institute suggests that the government’s efforts are ineffective to a dangerous degree. The poll establishes an index of vulnerability-to-radicalisation, in which any score below 67 indicates high risk. The score of 52.95 among the 1,320 respondents across Indonesia’s 33 provinces indicates that the attitudes and conditions of the country’s Muslim population—including social conservatism, low incomes and a mistrust of non-Muslim social groups—make it susceptible to extremism. 

Between official inaction and the failure of many populist Islamists to condemn violence, a sensitive and well-meaning comic book comes as a welcome measure, however modest.

(Image credit: Lazuardi Birru)