President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has bestowed national hero titles on six historic freedom fighters, all of whom had strong Islamic backgrounds during their lifetimes, as part of the the commemoration of National Heroes Day, which falls on Nov. 10.

The six late public figures, whose honor plaques and awards were received by their heirs during a ceremony at the State Palace on Thursday, were recognized for their services helping the country during the fight for
independence.

The figures included Abdurrahman Baswedan, a man of Arab descent who united the people of his ethnicity in the country to join the fight for independence and recognize Indonesia as their homeland, and Agung Hajjah Andi Depu, a royal personage from West Sulawesi who encouraged young people to fight for independence.

Depati Amir, who led and united locals with people of Chinese descent in the struggle against Dutch colonialism in Bangka, Bangka Belitung Islands, from 1830 to 1851 and Kasman Singodimedjo, one of Indonesia’s founding fathers behind the 1945 Constitution and a member of the Muslim group Muhammadiyah, who was able to unite nationalists and Muslims, were also named national heroes.

The other two were Pangeran Mohammad Noor, the first Kalimantan governor who helped train students to fight against the Dutch during its military aggression after 1945 and Brig. Gen. KH Syam’un, the head of the Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Serang, Banten, who helped maintain the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia against threats from separatist movements.

“They have led and carried out armed struggles, political struggles, or other form of struggles aimed at achieving [...] and maintaining independence, as well as the nation’s unity,” First Admiral Imam Supriyatno, the head of the Title, Order of Merit and Honors Bureau, said in a statement.

The six names were selected from a total of 16 candidates compiled by the Central Research and Assessment Team for Title (TP2GP) under the Social Affairs Ministry and proposed to the Title, Order of Merit and Honors Council, after the team, having researched the candidates, found them to have met all the requirements set out by the law on national heroes.

The council, which was led by Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, submitted the six names to Jokowi last week.

The naming of the heroes comes at a time when Indonesia is facing rising intolerance, with fears of sectarian divisions and threats to the nation’s unity reaching new heights amid political contests and campaigns for the 2019 presidential election.

Attending the ceremony on Thursday, Samhari Baswedan, Abdurrahman’s youngest son, said that his late father’s struggle to unite people of Arab descent was over as it was no longer relevant to segregate ethnicity in the country since, after independence, all the peoples of Indonesia, regardless of their race, were considered Indonesians.

“The most important thing is that all of [the people in Indonesia] must unite. The issues of ethnicity are no longer here [to be debated],” he said.

The family of the late Kasman, including his youngest daughter Dewi Nurul Mustakimah and Dede Indra Cahyadi, the grandson of Kasman, expressed their happiness at the government’s move.

Dede recalled his grandfather’s actions in persuading the members of the Preparatory Committee for Independence (PPKI) to delete seven key words — “[...] with Muslims required to observe Islamic law [...]” — from the first principle of Pancasila, so that Indonesian people could live in unity amid diversity.

“The action showed a big heart to unite the people [in Indonesia] together,” Dede said, “I hope that this event can be a moment, particularly for younger generations, to raise awareness of the values of patriotism.”

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