Why Sultan Totally Against NII Recruitment

YOGYAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta has called on the people to be careful of possible recruitment by NII (Indonesia Islamic State) members.

"I hope people in Yogyakarta to be careful and alert to anticipate unwanted occurences in connection with NII efforts to recruit new members using hypnotism," he said here on Thursday.

Moreover, he said, their target is the youth especially school and university students. He said this would also pose a challenge for parents who need to increase their supervision and communication with their children.

"In line with the incident (recruitment efforts by NII members) parents and youths must be careful and alert. This is important because NII members carry out their action while the youths are at home and outside their homes," he said.

Asked on the possibility of Yogyakarta so far known as city of students as the NII target Sultan said that was not impossible because a lot of young men and women from outside the city are studying in the city.

"Therefore I call on the people to be able to look after themselves and their families well to anticipate any eventuality," he said.

Sultan said he did not know for sure if the recruitment issue was a mere rumour or an illegal money collection activity because new recruits had always been asked to give payments. "It is not yet clear if it is just a mere camouflage for cheating," he said.