REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PANDEGLANG -- Police in Pandeglang District, Banten Province, have discovered that around 65 residents had joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) movement.
"The ISIS ideology has entered Pandeglang. Based on the results of our monitoring, about 65 people in the region have joined the movement," chief of the Pandeglang district police Adj. Snr. Comr. Anwar Sunarjo announced at a function declaring the rejection of ISIS movement in Pandeglang on Tuesday.
The residents who had joined the movement were e from several subdistricts in Pandeglang District, he noted.
They had joined ISIS because they were unaware of the movement that had carried Islamic symbols, he said.
Therefore, he appealed to public figures and Muslim clerics to help curb the spread of ISIS ideology in the district.
"We appeal to religious figures, social figures, and Islamic mass organizations to help thwart the entry of ISIS ideology and inform the public that the movement is against Islamic sharia and the Unitary Republic of Indonesia," he noted.
Local social figure HM Yusuf had agreed to condemn the ISIS movement and also prepared to curb the spread of the ISIS ideology.
"The Pandeglang district administration has declared the rejection of ISIS movement by receiving support from ulemas. So, we will reject the entry of the ideology and remind the public not to be influenced by invitation to join," he added.