UB Cooperates With Intelligence Officials to Stem Radicalism

Malang, East Java (Antaranews Jatim) - The University of Brawijaya (UB) in Malang, East Java, is cooperating with intelligence officials to stem the idea of radicalism in the local campus.

"We do seek intelligence assistance to supervise the movement of students, especially those from outside the campus and want to create anxiety," UB Rector Prof. Muhammad Bisri remarked here on Tuesday.

 He acknowledged that it was impossible for the rectorate's internal party to supervise the activities of every student in detail, as their number reaches more than 60 thousand.

Hence, he remarked that intelligence officials were involved in supervising the movements of students, including the extra campus organizations, the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Union, and the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement.

Bisri noted that the Student Activity Unit is suspected to be one of the entry points for the ideals of radicalism that spread stealthily, especially those that are not organized or move individually, so it is difficult to be monitored by the rectorate.

In addition to cooperating with the intelligence officials, Bisri stated that the university has taken an internal step to strengthen the moral character of students at the campus mosque.

To stem radical ideology, the UB has designed a course by incorporating the points of Character Building Based on Religion (PKBR).

PKBR is a religion-based form of personality development though the implementation is not always related to divinity, but it also helps students develop a professional personality that is 

Earlier, the National Counterterrorism Agency had noted in its release that seven campuses had allegedly become fertile breeding grounds for radicalism: University of Indonesia, Bogor Agricultural University, Bandung Institute of Technology, Diponegoro University, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology Surabaya, University of Airlangga, and University of Brawijaya. (*)