NU: Majority of Indonesians are Muslims but not radicals

Tokyo, NU Online
Member of the Advisory Board of  Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Jusuf Kalla reiterated the fact that the majority of Indonesians are indeed Muslims but are not affiliated with any radical or extremist groups that have been disrupting global security through their terrorist acts recently.

"When it comes to extremism and radicalism, there are still questions that are being asked while no answers are being provided. Radicalism tends to happen in failing countries; for example, there is the Taliban in Afghanistan and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. There are also arbitrary actions from larger countries to the smaller ones which causes anger to emerge and hope to vanish. From here, radicalism is born," he stated at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday.

Kalla who is also the vice president of Indonesia made the statement in his keynote speech in the Nikkei 23rd International Conference on The Future of Asia themed Globalism At A Crossroad: Asia's Next Move.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the Vice President had once said that Indonesia is not a failing country, and the government would never let radical and extremist values to spread in the nation.

"There are people who think about caliphs, but the development is not as large as imagined. The government has understood the issue and taken it seriously," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

Other than issues related to radicalism and extremism, Kalla also touched on the opportunities that need to be taken by Asia amid the rise of protectionism that was initiated by US President Donald Trumps America First and Britain's decision to leave the European Union, which is known as Brexit.

"In department stores in the United States, about 80 percent of the products are made in China and some of them are made in Indonesia. Hence, we can say that most of them come from Asia. Hence, is it possible to compete with Asia? It would be very challenging because it would impact Americans first, as their purchase power would go down," he revealed.

For that reason, Kalla re-conveyed Indonesia's commitment towards globalization and its importance for Asia to proceed forward into free and fair trade.

After delivering his keynote speech in front of around 100 participants in the Nikkei forum, Kalla carried on to prepare a question and answer session, moderated by Nikkei Japans senior editor. (Masdar)