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Pancasila ideology revisited
June 1 used to be one of the major state ceremonies when Indonesians celebrate the birth of Pancasila, its state ideology
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une 1 used to be one of the major state ceremonies when Indonesians celebrate the birth of Pancasila, its state ideology. In a country that was set up as nation state in 1945 as part of the international dynamic of World War II, Indonesia has a history that involves many ethnic groups, languages, social organizations and cultures in an archipelago stretching from the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
In conjunction with the 65th anniversary of Pancasila, let us use the occasion as an opportunity to look at the current Indonesia. In order to do this, a brief account on the political situation in Indonesia is required. Also, it is necessary to address issues on the implementation of regional autonomy, for example, the existing local ordinances in some districts that seem to be a formalization of sharia.
So far, the state has not examined laws and regulations that are diametrically against the 1945 Constitution.
The key principle in Pancasila - known as Bhinneka Tunggal Ika or commonly translated as Unity in Diversity - has been served as a catalyst in addressing diversity in Indonesia. However, the recent development shows quite a different picture. There has been a gradual change in contemporary Indonesia from a pluralistic state to a more homogenous nation state.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world. However, it is not a theocratic, nor a secular state, either. The reality is that Pancasila is a workable arrangement of Indonesia's ways of life and allows differences and diversity.
It is therefore reasonable to question whether Muslim politics can provide the answer and explanation to the question regarding the "disappearances" of Pancasila from Indonesia's political stage. Why Muslim politics?
D.F. Eickelman and J. Piscatori define Muslim politics as the competition and contest over both interpretation of symbol and control of institutions that produce and sustain them. Pancasila can be seen as the symbol of non-Islam and a kind of magic formula that works itself as a belt of spectrum of diversity. Is Pancasila seen as ex opere operato by Muslim political groups that it has to be undermined and if necessary dismissed or at least be made impotent?
The archipelago with its population has been accustomed to the idea of diversity and therefore the Indonesian people have been accustomed to what social theorists today refer to as cultural pluralism.
On the other hand, there has been a phenomenon that countries with Islam as a majority religion, including Indonesia, are facing more demands from certain parties to apply the Islamic law, which is not in tune with the Indonesian Constitution and the "spirit" of Pancasila.
What should not be ignored is the reality that the so-called harmonious interfaith relations are under serious challenge. It has been a perturbing picture to witness the attacks and difficulties that are faced by some churches, congregations or other "minority" religions in Indonesia in recent years.
It seems Indonesia is facing its critical juncture as there are desires and forces to renegotiate the model of the Indonesian state, including the model of the "Pancasila state".
It is also valid to consider that Indonesia is a hybrid country - in fact Indonesia is a contested concept. So far, Pancasila - with its pluses and minuses - has been able to cater to the diversity within the state of Indonesia. The diminishing of tolerance toward religious diversity does not mean the end of Indonesia.
The writer is a student at University of Edinburgh, UK
