THE DYNAMICS OF GOVERNMENT AND MUHAMMADIYAH PARTNERSHIP IN PREVENTING VIOLENT EXTREMISM (2014-2019)

Abstract

Indonesia is one of many countries that are facing violent extremism issues. Terrorist activities have become a major problem for the government to face, especially those who have been influenced by radical ideologies. Dating back to the year 2000 when the first terrorist attacks in Indonesia occurred which is in Bali and the attack continuously happens throughout the year. This issue cannot be ignored because it can be fatal for the country and the welfare of society due to a large amount of damage and deaths caused by terrorist attacks. The government has made several agendas for the prevention and countermeasures of violent extremism, especially terrorist attacks with the support of governmental agencies such as BNPT and civil society organizations such as Muhammadiyah. Although these two entities have different views and beliefs on the approach of P/CVE programs, they have the same purpose which is to end and eradicate the acts of violent extremism and radicalization. This thesis is focusing on analyzing the dynamics of the government of Indonesia and Muhammadiyah as a CSO in P/CVE programs. By using the theory of radicalization and deradicalization as well as the violent extremism and CSO context, this thesis will explain thoroughly the context of radicalization and its relevance with CSO and the government. The methodology of this thesis is using the qualitative method and the main data is gathered through interviews with respective members of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. The result of this research shows that the role of BNPT as a government agency and Muhammadiyah as a CSO, have a different point of view in their P/CVE programs. However, most of the time they cooperate to eradicate acts of terrorism but the approach taken by Muhammadiyah is often softer than the government and its agency which is BNPT. Overall, the cooperation between the government and Muhammadiyah in P/CVE programs are adequately intertwined with one another for the purpose of eradicating terrorism or any violent extremism activities in Indonesia even though they have different ways of implementing their agenda.