Is Qohhar's Movement still needed ? by Nihayatul Wafiroh

Abdul Qahhar Mudzakkar was born in Lapia, Luwu regent on March 24, 1921, and he was recognized death by government on February 3, 1965. I say that his death was “recognized” since some of his followers believe that he is still alive. Qahhar was a charismatic figure at Luwu. He was a soldier of Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI). However, he disagreed with the Soekarno’s policy, so he withdrew from TNI. Finally, he established Tentara Islam Indonesia and joined to Darul Islam (DI). Latterly, this group was known with DI/TII in South and Southeast Sulawesi.

Basically, the idea that DI promoted was the establish Indonesian Islamic county. It was related to the slogan of Qohhar movement which were “Javanese colonialism,” “Majapahitism,” and “Javanese syncretism and communism.” Qohhar saw that Java colonized other islands. Soekarno, the president at the time, used Javanese rules to run the government’s policy. As a result, Javanization influenced in many spheres in Indonesia, including in Sulawesi. I remember that one of my friends from Kalimantan told me. She said that in her community people who born in around 60-80s their name were mostly using Javanese names such as Kartini, Soekarwo, Soehato, Soekarno etc. With using Javanese names, it would make them easier to find jobs. It was because the important positions in Kalimantan or other parts in Indonesia were held by Javanese people. Qohhar also saw that Java speared out communism. In fact, communist idea came from Java, so that Qohhar wanted to bring Indonesia particularly Sulawesi to be Islamic country.

Indeed, right now, the condition already changes. Although Javanese still has the power, it is not as strong as before. We can see that many people from outside Java island are visible in government. They become the leaders in some important department in government, so is Qohhar’s movement needed right now?