, The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 06/20/2006 3:03 PM | Opinion
Juwono Sudarsono, Jakarta
It is a measure of our times of political transition that the debate about Pancasila as state identity (dasar negara) continues even after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent reaffirmation of the precepts as the ""fundamental basis of our national life"" on June 1, 2006, at the 61st anniversary celebrations of the Pancasila speech by president Sukarno on June 1, 1945.
At the celebration, President Yudhoyono appealed to all Indonesians to adhere to the basic consensus since 1945: Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, The Unitary State of Indonesia, Unity in Diversity. A ""Declaration on 'Indonesian-ness'"" was read before the President and a capacity crowd at the Jakarta Convention Center.
In recent weeks some Islamist groups had alarmed minority and non-Islamic communities with their fervent call for adherence to a stricter Islamic code of social, economic and political conduct by pushing for an all-encompassing official ban on ""amoral and lewd"" behavior, giving rise to fears among non-Muslims communities that they may be subjected to legal norms contravening their respective personal and public code of conduct.
Several regional governments have issued edicts applying sharia for public behavior. The Home Ministry is reviewing some of these edicts, which may directly contravene basic provisions of the Indonesian Constitution of 1945.
The Declaration on Indonesian-ness which was read in front of President Yudhoyono and Cabinet ministers on the June 1, 2006, drew reactions from a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), who derided the petitioners of 'Indonesian-ness' as being ""overly fearful of Islam"" and of propounding ""outright secular-nationalism.""
The fact of the matter is that on June 1, 1945, Sukarno affirmed that Indonesia's state identity would not be overly secular (as in India), nor would it be strictly theocratic (as in Saudi Arabia). Sukarno appealed to Islamic participants in the Preparatory Committee to Prepare Indonesian Independence in mid-1945 to accept the fact that the Indonesian state was to be established based on ""an agreement on fundamentals"" embraced by all ethnic, racial, provincial as well as religious groups across the former Netherlands East Indies.
They had after all fought together for the independence of the Indonesian Republic. Sukarno also emphasized that there will always be an enduring ""mythical quality of unity"" in the consciousness of all Indonesians and that diversity was an important feature of ""being Indonesian"". Nationalist, Islamist and all other beliefs and faiths would be united through a ""sublime union of all Indonesian culture and tradition"".
Being an Indonesian Muslim, therefore, necessitates a tolerant expression of one's sense of being an Indonesian citizen, with all its rich nuances arising from family, ethnic, provincial and racial heritage including the ""enrichment of Islam through understanding the beliefs and precepts of other faiths.""
Among Muslims in Indonesia, therefore, there would remain diverse interpretations of precepts, applications and rituals of Islam among the Javanese in Central and East Java, just as there would be variations among the Sundanese, Minangkabau/Padang, Makassar and Bugis -- as indeed among the proud Acehnese.
Likewise with Indonesian Protestantism (Batak Church, Baptist, Methodist) and the significant though less pronounced variations of Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, as well as Confucianism. Eclecticism and syncretism were the underpinnings of healthy pluralism and mutual tolerance.
It is worth remembering that Indonesia, although the country with largest number of Muslims is not an Islamic state, a distinction clearly made when Indonesia was accepted as a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference. (Indonesians take note of the fact that the OIC was never set up as an organization in which each member state had implanted the Islamic faith as its sole basis of state identity, hence the nomenclature of ""conference"").
In the event, the recent debates resurfaced on the question of emphasis. Non-Muslims and minority groups' adherence to the ""plurality and tolerant values"" is seen as affirming the need to remind Islamist groups of the basis of Indonesian identity. Islamist groups, on the other hand, perceive increased ""market globalization, secularization and loss of moral values"" as corrosive encroachments on their notion of the central message of their faith, which is social justice and to which Islam ""provides outreach, comfort and solace to the poor and the desperate"".
Doubtless the debates on these issues will be discussed in the upcoming International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) in Jakarta, June 20-21, which will be officially opened by President Yudhoyono at the Jakarta Convention Center.
My own feeling is that the rehashing of philosophical and values debates urgently need to be followed by things more concrete and tangible. Interfaith dialogs, including matters relating to ""Islam-West relations"", have had considerable play in many forums across the Middle East, North America, Europe and Asia.
How about following up these forums with ""projects on interfaith employment"" funded jointly by Islamic and Western multilateral aid agencies and donor governments. After all, when all is said and done, what young people -- especially poor Muslims across the developing world -- really need are jobs, jobs, jobs. Jobs will regain their sense of identity and reawaken their dignity.
Social justice and employment will reduce their sense of marginalization and humiliation. Social justice and employment will enhance their sense of individual self-worth. More justice and jobs among Indonesia's youth would ease the strains imposed on the security services who otherwise may have to crack down using the full force of the law against those who are too desperate and too despondent to care or to be aware of the rule of law and human rights.
The writer is the defense minister of Indonesia. The above article reflects his personal views.
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