The Dullness of the Sixties: Reading Religion, State, and Politics relation in Indonesia

By Roma Ulinnuha

The midst of the sixties in Indonesian situation is one of the significant moments which represented the Indonesian complexities of religion, society and politics. The mass killings, such as depicted by Robert Cribb, were manifest in many areas, while Robert Hefner sees the issues of aliran politics (p.222). As the president of the republic of Indonesia, Soekarno has multifaceted thoughts which denote his strong intellectuals. The formulation of Nationalist, Religion and Communism, I think, is one of his intellectual thought in the course of the newly-born state. With various backgrounds—of Muslims various groups and ideologies, the nationalists groups, and the socialists type of ideology, Indonesia is the colorful facts of diversity, so Soekarno should be in between amongst those complex elements of nation. In the meantime, at the political view, Soekarno almost lost of political support from the public as well as the elite, for the guided democracy he offered.
After the 30 September riots, Soekarno stated that it was the corrupted ideas of the Communist party elite to execute the movement. As the result, the killings of the Communits Party members and the sympathies were the culmination of tension amongst the various groups. The groups were the religious aspects and the apparatus of the state. By all reasons what both parties did—the Communits and the anti-Communists—in the course of political engineering, we should clarify it. I think, it is not appropriate to any entities to deliver differences as a tool to legitimate the violence and oppression. If people in the name of religion, borrowed its notion to eradicate evil with the acts of violence, the notion should be revisited. History can inspire us with how to see religion in relation to the state, and the reality in the complex society.
In the coming Indonesian mindset, it is useful to start thinking on what should be done to develop the multicultural aspects of the people. The interaction of political, economy, and social aspects should view religion in a proportional standpoint. Indonesia is distinctive feature which promotes the divine manifestation in the heart of the every citizen, but at the same time it also serves for the openness of seeing the other paradigm and perspective with the best attitude we have.

Readings:
Robert Cribb, “The Indonesia Killings of 1965-66, (Clayton, Monash University, 1990);
Robert W. Hefner, The political-Economy of Mountain Java”, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990) Religion, the Fall of Sukarno, and the Elimination of Communism in Indonesia.