Even as the government is under fire from netizens for blocking Islamic media websites judged to contain “radical” content, parents and teachers in Bandung are worried about the extremist ideas contained in new government-issued textbooks that are meant to be taught in Islamic studies classes.
Both the Parents’ Forum (Fortusis) and the Indonesian Federation of Independent Teachers (FGII) have asked the government to pull the books out of fear that they could radicalize students.
The textbooks contain a chapter titled “Rise Up All Islamic Fighters.” One part of the book reads: “Those who worship other than Allah are infidels and must be killed.”
“We denounce the book for promoting radicalism that is obviously dangerous and will create intolerance between religious people,” said Iwan Hermawan, the secretary general of FGII and a vice principal of the State Senior High School 9 on Tuesday as quoted by Liputan 6.
Iwan said as many as 1,700 copies of the book have already been distributed to high schools in Bandung by the Ministry of Education.
The book even contains a prologue by Mohammad Nuh, who was the Minister of Education in 2013 when classes requiring the textbooks were made a part of his controversial curriculum plan.
“We urge President Jokowi to investigate anyone at the Ministry of Education responsible for the publication of this book,” Iwan said as quoted by Koran Sindo.
After being briefed about the book and its content by Fortuisis and FGII, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said it will write to the Governor of West Java and ask him to withdraw the book from schools.
“This [book contains] the seeds of radicalism. We will create a letter to the Governor that this book be pulled out of schools,” said MUI West Java Secretary Rafani Achyar yesterday according to Tribunnews.
