Inside Indonesia’s Islamic schools

After the Bali bombings in 2002, Indonesian Islamic were pushed under the spotlight

After the Bali bombings in October 2002, Indonesian Islamic schools were pushed under the spotlight.

Many analysts have drawn the link between members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) – the perpetrators of the attack – and Ngruki Al-Mukmin – the Islamic boarding school set up by cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Some of the Bali bombers are Ngruki alumni, and the think-tank International Crisis Group described Ngruki as an “Ivy League” finishing academy for Islamic militants.

101 East goes inside Ngruki Al-Mukmin and talks to students and teachers, to see whether the critics’ claim of the school being a breeding ground for extremism stands up.

Joining Teymoor Nabili in the studio are Indonesian security consultant and Ngruki graduate Noor Huda Ismail, journalist Sadanand Dhume and via satellite from Berlin, Malaysian scholar Farish Noor.

101 East goes inside Indonesia’s so-called “Ivy League of Jemaah Islamiyah” – five years after its alumni were involved in the Bali bombings.

This episode of 101 East aired on Thursday 23 August 2007

Watch Part One here:

Watch Part Two here:

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