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Kiai Said warns of four 'big wars' challenging Nahdliyin

Rab, 23 Juni 2021 | 08:01 WIB

Kiai Said warns of four 'big wars' challenging Nahdliyin

KH. Said Aqil Siroj. (Photo: NU Online)

Jakarta, NU Online

The General Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Said Aqil Siroj, popularly known as Kiai Said, mentioned several major wars that NU members (Nahdliyin) must win. The wars referred to here are not physical but the ones to influence each other in order to seize, control, and change people's way of thinking.

 

“In the end, a nation will submit and depend on other nations. This is not a physical war, but a war of influence. It is more dangerous than physical war," Kiai Said said virtually at the 50th Haul ((a yearly religious commemoration for the death) of KH Abdul Wahab Chasbullahon Tuesday (22/6).

 

First, pop culture war. From waking up to sleeping, people today are filled with such contents as movies, music, games, and animations from various cultures in the world. Unfortunately, many young people are affected by this pop culture war.

 

Second, digital war. Kiai Said was of the view that all countries in the world had currently been competing to produce digital platforms to create dependence and photograph the behavior of other nations so that they could easily be taken control.

 

“How big countries are trying to take control of everything, take control of small countries, everything, including databases. Never think this (phenomenon) is a small issue. This is our data, 270 million of which have been leaked, have been controlled by foreign countries," the leader of the Pesantren Luhur Al Tsaqafah Ciganjur, South Jakarta, said.

 

Due to our dependence on other countries that control the database, a country could no longer be independent. He also hoped that this would not happen to the Republic of Indonesia.

 

Third, biological war. Kiai Said called it a new one since the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, countries that are able to produce vaccines at this time will come out victorious in this biological war. Meanwhile, countries that cannot afford and can only import will lose.

 

In fact, he continued, the Covid-19 had now resulted in many more virulent variants. One of them is the Delta variant from India which is more contagious than the Covid-19 itself. Because it is more virulent and rapidly transmitted, it requires more sophisticated vaccines.

 

"We have not been able to make the first vaccine, the pandemic has increased to the third level. It's going to be a vaccine war. America, Germany, China (have involved in it). We are only spectators, usually only importers,” Kiai Said said.

 

The health industry owners will be the commanders who could influence the policies of a country. According to Kiai Said, Indonesia will be dictated by other countries being capable of producing vaccines.

 

"Hopefully it's not as bad or as dangerous as we imagine. But obviously we will be dictated by other countries that have vaccines," he said.

 

Fourth, war on food, water, and energy. Countries that have these resources will all be able to become global rulers. Kiai Said emphasized that Indonesia as a sovereign nation and state must be able to strengthen the nation's existence.

 

Therefore, concern for the environment and control and processing of waste pollution, especially plastic, must be done immediately because the environmental threat could be a threat to life.

 

“Indonesia is the second winner of plastic waste, after China. Becoming a champion but a champion in throwing plastic waste in the sea. It will damage the marine ecosystem and will damage the environment,” the Professor of Sufism from Sunan Ampel State Islamic University, Surabaya, East Java, said.

 

Those were the big wars in the society 5.0 challenging NU members (Nahdliyin). Kiai Said hoped that the Nahdliyin would not be left behind so that they lost in these big wars. He encouraged NU students and cadres to immediately keep up with any development in the digital era.

 

"We must not be left behind by the other parties. We must be able to produce smart people who could response to various challenges of the times, not only as objects and markets in global competition. Digital talent and cyber army must be multiplied and strengthened in order to be able to realize digital sovereignty in Indonesia, especially we NU Members," the alumni of Umm Al-Quro University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, said.

 

Reporter: Aru Lego Triono

Editor: Sudarto Murtaufiq