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articipants of the seventh biennial World Peace Forum are committing themselves to working together in mainstreaming the “middle path” approach amid rising populism in many parts of the world.

Through the forum, which ended on Thursday, Indonesia introduced the middle path approach, which emphasizes ethics and morality, based on its traditions and experiences in promoting peace through Pancasila, its national ideology.

Presidential special envoy for interfaith and intercivilizational dialogue and cooperation Din Syamsuddin told reporters after the forum’s closing ceremony that religious figures agreed on the “Jakarta Message”, which called on leaders to promote the implementation of the middle path in their respective communities.

“In addition to that, we also encourage academics, scholars and teachers to conduct research and educate the younger generation on the middle path,” he said on Thursday.

Former member of the Nobel Peace Committee, Gunnar Stalsett, said the idea of a middle path was both complex and simple.

“Everyone understand that this is a matter of tolerance and inclusion and compromise. It is not that you lose or win, it is a matter of struggle between extremes and values,” he said, adding that participants agreed to encourage diversity and unity through the middle path.

However, such ideals would face challenges. According to the National Commission on Human Rights’ latest report, Indonesia has recorded a steady increase in violations of religious freedom in recent years. It prohibited minority sect Ahmadiyah from conducting religious activities in Subang, West Java, and allowed for mass organizations to extort churches in Bandung, also in West Java, for permits.

In May this year, Ahmadis, mostly women and children, had to seek refuge at a police station after an angry mob destroyed their homes in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, in an attempt to expel them from the area.

Din stressed that the middle path did not equate to taking a neutral stance.

“It is an attitude of siding with the positive values of human equality, not ignoring the rights of others. We have to care for each other, help each other, in the economic, social and political aspects,” he said.

Professor of anthropology at Boston University, Robert Hefner, said the middle path should recognize the principles of human dignity, equality and inclusiveness and must involve discussion and compromise.

“Rather than pushing aside the opinion of the minority or majority, you’ve pushed forward something that is intended to be shared and positive,” he said.

Eun Sook Jung, a professor at the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Political Science, said that, in a democracy, there was a constant struggle between the rights of the majority and those of minorities.

“What we are witnessing right now in the world is the rise of extremism […] so when we say the middle path, we’re saying that we’re trying to make a positive effort to uphold the rights of the majority as well as the rights of minorities,” she said, adding that such an approach, which aimed to cultivate the idea of tolerance, required some sort of compromise.