Will Pluralisme Recover in Indonesia?

Indonesia arguably owes its existence to two crucial decisions. In both, a majority waived any claim to a special position in the new Indonesia for the sake of unity. In 1928, at the so-called "oath of the youth", the Javanese agreed that Malay, spoken by less than 5 percent of all Indonesians, and not their beautiful ancient Javanese, would become the national language.
And this although the Javanese account for 40 percent of the Indonesian population. It is now generally agreed that, had they chosen Javanese, Indonesia would never have taken off since she would have been regarded by all the others as merely a Javanese project. They would have opted out.
The second crucial decision was, of course, Pancasila. On June 1, 1945, Sukarno proposed Pancasila to overcome serious dissent about the philosophical basis of the future Indonesia (a secular-nationalistic or an Islamic state?).
Pancasila could finally be inserted into the Indonesian Constitution when the assembly unanimously dropped the demand that Muslims be obliged to follow sharia, thereby agreeing implicitly that the majority religion, Islam, would not get any special position in the new state.
This generous, far-sighted recognition of Indonesian pluralism has been the cornerstone of the "improbable" unity of the island nationSabang to Merauke" (a popular nationalistic song), with its hundreds of different languages and its religious pluriformity.
That this pluralism had limits became terribly visible in the aftermath of the coup attempt by the 30 September Movement on Oct. 1, 1965, in which hundreds of thousands of "communists" were slaughtered. If we leave the (extremely important) political ramifications out, we can maybe say that this genocide happened because non-communists felt so threatened by communist positioning that, after the bloody coup (and remembering communist mass killings in 1948), they shutout of the community.
Since then, such exclusion has happened several times on a local, but never again on a national level. But it is a stark reminder that under the sometimes tranquil surface of Indonesia terrible monsters lurk, ready to break out if the fundamental cosmic unity of the community breaks down. Thus pluralism, the ability to accept cultural-religious diversity insurroundings and live with it in a relaxed way, is absolutely crucial for Indonesia.
But now pluralism is under attack. During the last years hundreds of places of worship have been burned down and religious communities forced to stopworship. Since the fall of Soeharto, religious zealots openly fight for the introduction of religious law, threatening the traditional freedom of Indonesians to determine themselves how to practice their religions, thereby threatening their social identity.
These attempts have been rebuffed at the national level, but religious legislation is now entering from the back door - utilizing the astonishing indolence of the present government.
In more than 40 municipalities and regions religiously stipulated codes of behavior have been made obligatory, often particularly discrimi-nating against women.
Typical for this creeping attack on the pluralistic culture of the country was the proposed law againstand porno-action". This law would have cold-bloodedly declared century old traditions of indigenous behavior as pornographic.
At the same time traditional pluralism seems to be eroding. The number of people favoring hard-line attitudes, and sympathetic to terrorism, is growing. Although direct communal conflicts have not occurred during the last four years, the alienation between culturally and religiously defined communities is increasing. It is said, for instance, that the big markets in Jakarta like Pramuka, Senen or Tanah Abang have been taken over by specific ethnic groups (Betawi, Madurese, Bataks, East Timorese and others), which at least makes open warfare less likely.
Although inter-religious dialog occurs, suspicions between religious communities are strong. This has been acerbated by religious teachers instructing children to avoid contact with children from other religions. At certain departments of famous state universities students are placed by other students according to their respective religion in order to easier control their fasting.
The old tradition of wishing each other happy Christmas or happy Idul Fitri has almost died out since a fatwa (edict), forbidding precisely this, has been revived. Last year's fatwa by the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) condemning- MUI later publicly stated that the fatwa was not directed at other religious communities - nevertheless has tainted the wordwith the insinuation of something sinful.
The outgoing year 2006 gave mixed signals. The infamous "Ordinance on the building of places of worship" of 1969 was replaced by aOrdinance" by the Religious Affairs Ministry and of the Home Ministry which brings some improvements, although it still does not refer to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of worship. Forced closures of "unofficial" churches still happen, although on a smaller scale.
Last October a Rosary-group in Jakarta was forcefully stopped in mid-prayer by neighbors with backing of militia members from the Islamic Defenders Front. Attacks on the Ahmadiyah community still occur.
And should Lia Amminuddin, whose about 300 followers believe her to be both Mary the Mother of Jesus and the angel Gabriel, really be put in prison? The shameful execution of "the Poso three" (Tibo, Dominggus, Riwu) last September did, as predicted, nothing to lower the tensions in the region.
But there are some hopeful signs. Both in Ambon and in Poso attempts to provoke the communities into renewed fighting have not succeeded. Local people now understand that they have been played against each other by outside parties and are no longer willing to do their bidding.
The year 2006 could also be called the year Indonesian nationalism began to reassert itself. On June 1, 2006, the long neglectedDay", President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a strong plea for re-actualization of Pancasila. Since then Pancasila talk is back in Indonesia. Indonesians are remembering that they have their own philosophy of the unity of their nation which is, at the same time, a strong beacon of fundamental ethical orientation for all Indonesian politics.
Representatives of all religions have welcomed this development. In the face of extremist ideological threats Pancasila is the obvious moral and humanistic resource Indonesians can fall back upon.
How will things go on? This depends, obviously, on all the relevant actors. I can only make a few suggestions. First of all, intellectuals, moderate religious leaders (the big majority of them) and nationalists should finally acknowledge that Indonesia is in real danger of being subverted by extremists and fundamentalists. The time for complacency is over. If we want an open, democratic, plural, peaceful, free, dynamic Indonesia, now is the time to state this openly. Religious leaders particularly should no longer leave religious discourse to the extremists.
Thus intellectuals and religious moderate mainstream leaders should loudly and clearly announce their commitment to the "just and civilized humanism" of Pancasila. They should take a clear stance against violence and attempts to impose exclusivistic regulations on society.
They should not stay silent in front of extremist challenges. This has to be accompanied by ongoing inter-religious dialog, down to the grassroot level.
Pluralism and tolerance have to be entered into the curriculum at schools, possibly in the framework of a renewed Pancasila course. There should be a general campaign against all violent behavior and for a commitment to civilized behavior under all circumstances, which would mean nothing else than a sustained attempt to help people to grow out of narrow communalism into an ethics of responsibility.
It is clear that the government of President Yudhoyono is in the dock. At least three things are demanded: First that the government continues to make Pancasila the central moral reference for all politics in Indonesia. Second, violence should no longer be condoned under any pretext, and the government has to make this clear.
The government has to give the police full backing for taking the necessary measures against fanatical mobs. Third, freedoms and rights guaranteed in our Constitution - the amended Constitution of 1945 - have to be unequivocally protected and safeguarded.
For the inroads hard-line attitudes have made into the generally still moderate and tolerant majority of the Indonesian people the timid attitude of the government is partly to blame.
People standing up to extremist pressures are not seldom left out in the rain. Only when the rule of law is re-established without compromise can Indonesian democracy begin to flourish.
The year 2006 has brought some progress. It depends to a big part on the government of President Yudhoyono whether this trend is continued for the benefit of the whole of Indonesia.
The author, a Jesuit priest, is a professor at Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta. (Franz Magniz SJ/The Jakarta Post)