inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. Vice Minister of Religious Affairs Romo Muhammad Syafi'i urged the public not to rush to link the explosion involving a student at MAN 3 Padang to radicalism, noting that the cause of the incident must be thoroughly investigated.

"Incidents like the one at MAN 3 Padang must be thoroughly investigated. We must not rush to conclusions about what caused the incident," said Romo on Thursday (7/16/2026).

He explained that experience in a number of previous cases shows that initial suspicions do not always align with the results of investigations.

He cited the example of the explosion in Jakarta, which was initially linked to radicalism, but after further investigation was found to be caused by the perpetrator's psychological issues. Therefore, he urged all parties to await the results of the law enforcement investigation and not to form opinions based on unverified allegations or information.

Furthermore, he believes this incident should serve as an opportunity to strengthen child protection, including preventing bullying in educational settings.

According to him, the government has taken the issue of bullying seriously through coordination across ministries and institutions under the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture.

The government has also established a Bullying Handling Task Force involving various ministries and institutions.

"Handling bullying is a shared responsibility. Therefore, the government is building cross-sector synergy through the National Movement for Safe and Comfortable Spaces for Children (Gernas RANA) to ensure that every child is protected from all forms of violence and bullying," explained Romo.

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