Govt silent as freedom preyed on

Patricia Silalahi ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 05/17/2008 11:15 AM  |  Opinion

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hesitates not just to raise fuel prices, even though it is very clear that the government has to make the bitter move as soon as possible, but also to take firm action in defending the mandate of the 1945 Constitution that obliges the state to protect freedom of religion.

Objections over the existence of the Islamic sect Jamaah Ahmadiyah are based on the belief that the group's teaching is very different from the most basic faith of Islam that Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet sent by God to this world.

But when we look further, we will find that where extreme poverty is rampant and there is a severe lack of proper education, a feeling of frustration can be easily triggered and expressed through religion.

Do people that come from a country loaded with daily corruption activities have the right to violently act on behalf of a religion? Unfortunately, it seems they do. In this very land, you often do not directly connect your religious practices with the way you live your daily life.

What matters here is that people see you fulfill religious requirements such as how many times you pray, and covering your female relatives' heads, especially in fasting month, and plenty of other demonstrations of visible rituals. While it is very easy to demonstrate your symbolic religion, the values inherent in your religion are not reflected in your daily deeds.

It has been believed that law can only exist in a society, and that there can be no society without law. And that the character of the law of one nation is the reflection of the society within.

What happened to Ahmadiyah shows very much the character of Indonesian people. The only lesson one could conclude is that: Violence in this country is allowed when it is carried out to defend religion. European states centuries ago learned that the rise of the modern state system undermined the tradition of the unity of Christendom and eventually gave rise to those sentiments of exclusive nationalism.

Some people think they are entitled to act as self-appointed custodians of religion and common people seem to practice a wait-and-see strategy. Here exclusivity grows rapidly.

The government's silent behavior toward violent actions conducted by hard-liners could simply be interpreted as a tacit agreement. For whatever background that caused a silent response from government -- maybe to secure potential supporters since legislative and presidential elections are coming near, or because religion is too sensitive an issue that the better response is to pretend an incident never occurred -- the whole society needs to share a common social consciousness. It is true that the strength of any legal system is proportionate to the strength of sentiment of shared responsibility for the conduct of a common life. But the marriage of convenience between the government, hard-liners and the Indonesian Ulema Council is likely to lead to the emergence of groups who claim themselves to be the most authoritative custodian of religion.

Taking law into your own hands is rife nowadays in Indonesia. And the government does little to stop this worrying phenomenon.

The writer is an Indonesian diplomat. The opinions expressed here are her own.

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