TheJakartaPost
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Weaponizing Pancasila
Following a 2019 presidential election race fraught with identity politics, the government has seemingly amped up its efforts to target civil servants and military personnel suspected of embracing radical views.
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Pancasila illustration (JP/Budhi Button)
A few days before the country celebrated the 74th anniversary of its Independence Day, the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Minister organized a curious event: a loyalty oath declaration by family members of the long-defunct Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) and Darul Islam/Indonesian Islamic Army (DI/TII) rebel groups.
The participants, including Sarjono Kartosuwiryo, the son of former DI/TII leader Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo, read out a pledge to the state ideology Pancasila and kissed the Indonesian flag, as witnessed by Minister Wiranto at his office in Central Jakarta.
The pledge was delivered in the midst of a government crackdown on groups and individuals accused of being anti-Pancasila, particularly those associated with Islamic radicalism.
