Development and Peace

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Azyumardi Azra

“There is no peace without development, and there is no development without peace” (Jan Eliasson, President of the UN General Assembly 60, 2005)

Development remains a national agenda. Since the New Order government initiated national development in various fields in the 1970s, there have been many achievement and development results that have been enjoyed by the people. However, it is clear that Indonesia has not made an achievement as expected. During the reformation period, in the midst of the era of political freedom, national development was carried out by the government alternately with different intensities. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s government is considered to have a priority on infrastructure development such as highways, toll roads, bridges, reservoirs, airports, or ports.

What are the real goals of development? What also must be fulfilled by the government in carrying out development? The goals and benchmarks of national development must be based on the goals of the Indonesian state as stated in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution, Paragraph IV: “…Forming a government that protects the entire Indonesian nation and the entire homeland of Indonesia, and to promote general welfare, enlighten the life of the nation, and participate in carrying out world order based on freedom, eternal peace and social justice”. All these obligations must be carried out based on five principles called Pancasila.

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It is clear that not all state goals or national goals and development goals as outlined in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution have been fully achieved. Even in certain respects it is still far from expected.

The government, for example, has not been able to fully protect the entire nation; there are still many people who experience misery, persecution, intimidation and violence by both state and non-state actors.

This can be seen from the case in Wadas village, Purworejo (8/2/2022), where some residents who refused the opening of an andesite mine were confronted by the police and military (TNI) with “full strength”. The residents were considered to have hindered the construction of the Bener Reservoir, part of the National Strategic Project. The list of such cases of violence carried out under the name of development must be very long.

Development—even with the appendage of a National Strategic Project whose criteria is not very clear—often does not care about peace. In fact, the national development goals in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution outline that the government is obliged to maintain order; not only in the wider world, but also at home based on freedom, lasting peace and social justice. However, developments in the field often reflect contradictions and ironies. Development should be carried out with peace with the community concerned because there is no development without peace; and development must then produce peace for all citizens. Development with peace respects the dignity and human rights of citizens.

Development with peace requires an approach that prioritizes peaceful methods. The government in a democratic country like Indonesia must carry out development that is inclusive based on the aspirations and participation of citizens. Indonesia is not an authoritarian country where the government can impose its own will with non-peaceful approaches and methods. Development with and for peace must move towards the creation of economic, political, legal and sociocultural justice.

With the same principle, development must promote a conducive and supportive superstructure to create peace for the nation-state. Development should not strengthen oppressive structures of injustice or create ecosystems that do not support peace, such as poverty, socioeconomic inequalities and unemployment.

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It is important to remember that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the Indonesian government also emphasize peace. In SDGs number 16, it is stated: "Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all, and building accountable and inclusive institutions at every level".

Development can be meaningful for humanity and civilization only if it produces peace, and there is no conflict between government and citizens or between one citizen group and another citizen group. Sustainable development can be realized if there is peace; conflict and violence cannot produce development that honors humans and the environment.

The government must avoid development that involves the use of intimidation, coercion, persecution and violence that tends to be unmeasurable. This practice not only violates the 1945 Constitution and human rights, but also could become a black stain in the history in the efforts to advance the Indonesian nation-state.

AZYUMARDI AZRA, history professor, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta; Member of the Cultural Commission of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).