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Reinterpreting Pancasila
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Preserving Pancasila: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo attends a celebration of Pancasila Day at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Pejambon, Central Jakarta, on June 1. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
I
n commemorating the anniversary of the Pancasila state ideology, which fell on June 1, what is needed is reflection on how to reinterpret it more inclusively.
Pancasila Week, held from May 29 until June 4, used the taglines #SayaPancasila (I am Pancasila), #Saya Indonesia (I am Indonesia), #PancasilaReborn, etc. These taglines leave the impression that Pancasila is being used as political jargon against a perceived threat.
The campaign seems to be directed against the Islamist threat, which many perceive as increasingly endangering the national ideology following the highly polarizing recent Jakarta gubernatorial election. A clear indication was the government’s announced plan to disband Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) on the grounds that its ideology contravenes Pancasila.
However, using Pancasila as an instrument to curb, disband — or gebuk (clobber) certain groups, as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said, using the word Soeharto infamously used — is prone to make the government fall lockstep with the New Order. More reminiscent of the regime was that Jokowi also used the word “clobber” against the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) — “in case it emerges again,” he said.
