Ariel Heryanto's warning, Pancasila has been treated the same as during the New Order — needs to be taken into account. Pancasila is not an ideology, but the shared values that underlie national unity.
By
FRANZ MAGNIS-SUSENO
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/SUPRIYANTO
Supriyanto
Prof. Ariel Heryanto's warning (Kompas, 6/11/2021) that Pancasila in the post-New Order era – yes, during Jokowi’s democracy -- should not be used in the same way as during the New Order era, deserves attention.
Ariel Heryanto underlined that it is important not to misunderstand Pancasila, in a sense that Sukarno, the originator of Pancasila, did not consider Pancasila as a kind of ideology, but as an umbrella under which all kinds of ideologies that existed at that time among Indonesian nationalists could be placed. The ideologies that Sukarno himself fought for—under the umbrella of Pancasila—were socialism, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism and so on.
It can be added that Pancasila is precisely defined as the basic human values and beliefs shared by all ethnic, cultural and religious communities of the archipelago.
Therefore, all these quite different communities can unite in one Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and, that is most decisive, feel themselves as one nation, the Indonesian nation. In contrast to many postcolonial countries, both in Asia and in Africa, Indonesia's national unity has succeeded in becoming a reality because Indonesian identity does not rival, let alone oppress, the identity of each archipelago community, but guarantees and even lifts it.
It also seems that there is a close relationship between Indonesian nationality and Pancasila. The ethnic, cultural and religious pluralism of the archipelago can unite in awareness, even in pride: we are Indonesia. The unity of Indonesian identity was made possible because these communities with quite different identities each had five common social principles, the five Pancasila principles which became the basis of their togetherness.
Under New Order rule, it all changed. Pancasila began to be used as an ideology to attack other ideologies that were perceived as threats. Ariel Heryanto mentions communism and Islamism, and also liberalism. Here we do not need to enter into the discourse of whether Pancasila can justify the prohibition of anything communist (in the Decree XXVI MPRS 1966). In my opinion, at least Marxism-Leninism cannot be accommodated under the five tenets of Pancasila.
It can be noted that, after 20 years in power, Soeharto himself realized it was a mistake to be hostile to the religion embraced by 87 percent of Indonesians, so he made his Islamic turn. Moreover, mainstream Islam in Indonesia expressly declared itself to be part of the Indonesian nation whose togetherness is based on Pancasila.
DIDIE SW
Didie SW
Pancasila and religion
Ariel Heryanto's warning — that perhaps during Jokowi's democracy, Pancasila has been treated the same as during the New Order — needs to be taken into account. Pancasila is not an ideology, but the shared values that underlie national unity.
A few days ago on social media, there was a video of an angry ustad asking what Pancasila was compared with the Quran and hadiths. Many comments were very critical of the ustad. But, of course, the ustad was right! Pancasila cannot be compared with religious teachings. Of course it applies: “We must obey God more than men” (Acts 5:29). We religious people certainly get the basic direction of our lives from the teachings of the religion we profess. We were already religious before we first heard the word Pancasila.
Therefore, Pancasila should not be propagated as a kind of teaching about life wisdom. The teaching of the wisdom of life is a personal matter for each of us, and for most of us it is rooted in religion. Thus, Pancasila is not something like, for example, Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy or Sayyed Hossein Nasr's philosophia perennis. Pancasila is nothing less and nothing more than the five tenets mentioned at the end of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution.
BPIP Function
Because of that, the attempt to relaunch the “extraction of Pancasila” is wrong and dangerous. As explained by Ariel Heryanto, Sukarno's view of Pancasila must be understood inclusively. What Sukarno meant in his view on June 1, 1945 by extracting Pancasila was not: ”If you want, Trisila even Eka-sila is enough” [Pancasila condensed into three principles of socionationalism, socioeconomics and belief in God, or a singular belief of mutual cooperation]; rather: Those whose "political ideology" focuses on socionationalism and socioeconomics, or those who want to accommodate the Indonesian people socially in mutual cooperation, are accommodated in Pancasila.
As soon as Pancasila gives the impression that it intends to relativize religion, it will actually be threatened. On the other hand, when religious people see, wow, this Pancasila is good, it turns out that what is important for us is revealed in Pancasila; they will gladly give space to nationalism in their heart and participate in trying to make the five precepts of Pancasila a reality in Indonesia.
Therefore, the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education (BPIP) will only play a positive role if it firmly prevents it from becoming a kind of new Educational Development Agency for the Implementation of the Pancasila Livelihood and Practice Guidelines (BP7). The BPIP's aim is of course not to philosophize about Pancasila, but to help make God Almighty, just and civilized humanity, Indonesian unity, democracy led by wisdom in consultation/representation and social justice for all Indonesian people become more and more of a reality.
Kompas
Franz Magnis-Suseno
What is contrary to Pancasila, and should not be given space in Indonesia, are political movements that are based on an ideology that denies the equal position of all citizens of the nation, from all ethnicities, cultures and religions in Indonesia. In this sense, Pancasila is indeed a criterion for whether an ideology has the right to be given space in Indonesia. This is not a remnant of the New Order's mentality, but the agreement of the Indonesian people that "the Republic of Indonesia, which is sovereign by the people... is based" on the five principles we call Pancasila.
Franz Magnis-Suseno, Professor at Driyarkara College of Philosophy in Jakarta
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