How are The Functions of Pancasila in the Discussion of Religion and Politic in Indonesia? By Nihayatul Wafiroh

Four writing that I read for this week gave me a picture that the politic of Indonesia could not be separated with the issues of religion. In almost of spheres, religions become the consideration when the decisions are made. To illustrate, as Nurcholis Madjid described that Soekarno attempted to bridge three important groups in Indonesia which are nationalism, communism or socialism, and Islamism when he decided to apply Pancasila to be the Indonesian principlesIt is a political agenda behind its.

Since independent day, Pancasila had become the five principles for Indonesia. Indonesian people claim that the Pancasila is the basic root of Indonesians’ principles. The first principle is Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa (The Great Unity Deity). In this principle, it addresses that every single religion has freedom to do their ritual. It seems that Indonesia has a great democratization in term of religious freedom. However in reality, the religious conflicts still occur. Indonesia with many cultures and religions, can be easy to be the subject place of religious conflict. The cases of Poso and Ambon are the real examples of its.

Robert W. Hefner addresses another issue of the democratization and civil Islam in Indonesia. Indeed, culture, organization and religion influence in the process of democracy. In case of Indonesia, ICMI played an important rule during Suharto regime. Many components attempted to use ICMI as a vehicle to achieve their goals. In another side, the state played ICMI to control the opponents. From Hefner’s explanation, I could figure out that religious organization has bargaining position as civil society agents. When the regime wanted to give signs of his power, the religious issues were the perfect fuse. For instance, in the late 1998 and early 1999, there was the chaos in Banyuwangi. Hundreds people who were categorized as sorcerers were killed. Indeed, most of them were the religious teachers. So what are the functions of Pancasila in religious life in Indonesia? Is Pancasila still relevant for recent situation in Indonesia in term of religious and political life?

1.Robert Hefner, Civil Islam: Muslim and Democratization in Indonesia. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000).
2.M.C. Ricklefs, A History of Modern Indonesia Since 1300
3.Bernand Adeney-Risakotta, “Religion, Violance and Diversity: Negotiating the Boundaries of Indonesia Identity,” in Stekens, Machasin & Wijsen., eds, Religion, Civil Society and Conflict in Indonesia (Zurich & Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2009)
4.Nurcholish Madjid, “In Search of Islamic Roots for Modern Pluralism, The Indonesian Experience,” in Mark Woodward, ed., Toward a New Paradigm: Recent Developments in Indonesian Islamic Thought.