Maintaining Remembrance

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Children of the Tengger Tribe put up red-and-white flags during a Scouts Day Ceremony to welcome Indonesian Independence Day on Mount Bromo in Sukapura district, Probolinggo regency, East Java, Tuesday (14/8/2018). The ceremony was marked by hoisting 2,018 red-and-white flags and pledging to maintain the sovereignty of Indonesia.

The idea of a "caliphate state" emerged towards the end of the second decade of the 21st century. Its emergence corresponds with the growing political clashes in Papua and the discourse of Acehnese independence that resurfaced some time ago. This raises another topic for discussion: the history of our sense of nationalism as "Indonesia".

Is nationalism a fixed or dynamic concept? What is the measure for identifying with a sense of nationalism so that a shared memory is developed to bind every citizen in the spatial concept called a "nation-state"? What kinds of things have the potential to destroy the postulate of nationalism? Who is responsible for maintaining the shared memory that enables each individual to imagine themselves as an integral part of the national community?

Nationalism is a concept that is both fixed and fluid. It is fixed because the historical monuments and symbols of the past cannot be changed and are wells of inspiration for maintaining the "shared memory" of the nation. It is fluid in terms of the narrative that nationalism is flexible and open to the sociopolitical changes that accompany the dynamic journey of the nation-state.

Because many dirty politicians are still stirring up Papua or swaying Aceh against the status quo.

The requirement for establishing a nation is the existence of a united desire that is bound by a common destiny and ideals (O. Bauer, 1881-1938; E. Renan, 1823-1892).

Ernest Renan strongly opposed the concept of ethnographic nationality. A nation built on the basis of ethnic, religious and racial similarities, said Renan, was mere fantasy. For him, the nationalist sentiment was a bond of solidarity, similar to the later ideas of Hans Kohn (1891-1971) about the state of mind and acts of consciousness in "highest loyalty" to the state.

The founder of the nation, Bung Karno [Soekarno], adopted the ideas of Renan and Bauer and then supplemented them with the geopolitical phrase "from Sabang to Merauke" to compile the definition for "the nation" of Indonesia. The political implication is that Aceh and Papua are an inseparable and integral part of Indonesia.

The critical task now and in the future is how to fill the geopolitical space with a nation-building project that places people at the center and teleology of all political endeavors. "Building from the periphery" as the development philosophy of Jokowi intends to glorify citizens in remote and marginalized areas so that justice and equality are not just reflecteions, but praxis. The challenge is great, because many dirty politicians are still stirring up Papua or swaying Aceh against the status quo.

KOMPAS/DAHLIA IRAWATI

At least 120 displaced people from East Java fleeing from violence in Wamena, Jayawijaya regency, Papua, arrive at Abdulrachman Saleh Air Base in Malang, East Java, on Wednesday (2/10/2019). A large number of residents have left Wamena after riots broke out in the city on 23 September.

In Imagined Communities (1991), author Ben Anderson underlines that the process of becoming a nation amidst diversity is a dynamic of consciousness that presupposes the willingness of all people in it to imagine themselves as an entity called "the nation". Without this awareness of unity, it is difficult for a nation to maintain its existence and future.

In Islamic Nationhood and Colonial Indonesia (2003), contemporary historian Michael Laffan used the Andersonian approach to understand the inherent nature of Islam in our history of nation-building. Laffan did not merely recognize the awareness of imagery among Muslim intellectuals and fighters in the historical development of Indonesian nationalism. He also recognized the central role of Islam in developing national identity since the colonial era. Simply put, he emphasize that Indonesia would never have existed without Islam.

Laffan\'s thesis is unquestionable. The problem is that these days, transnational ideology has evolved to adopt a radical agenda of establishing a "religious state". It is radical because it justifies the path of violence – or "death theology" in the language of Buya Syafii Maarif – behind a "gentle" appearance. This group feels itself to be the most pious and claims that Indonesia is based on a single doctrine – which means denying the nature of Indonesia as a pluralistic nation. Identity politics that promotes the recognition of human dignity (F. Fukuyama, 2018) becomes a weapon that destroys human dignity and civilization in the hands of radical groups. Nationalism is indeed a flexible postulate, but flexibility does not mean deconstructing the historical and ontological nature of a nation.

Dynamic feelings

Whether it is realized or not, the meaning of nationalism is diminishing. Those who want to establish a caliphate also claim to be nationalists. So, what is the measurement for nationalism? If understanding nationalism is limited to feelings, the measurement must refer to fixed aspects, such as historical records, constitutions, political systems and other national symbols that underlie the birth and limit the definition of a nation-state.

However, I am more inclined and prefer to understand nationalism as a concept that goes beyond emotions or thoughts. It also has to touch upon the quality of life of a nation because nationalism only gains essential meaning when it is able to drive real change to improve the quality of humanity, individually and collectivelym as a community. This is a crucial discussion because even radicals, including separatists, use the same narrative to fight for the caliphate system or self-liberation!

The memory of the glory of the past, or the "equality of fate" in the language of Otto Bauer (1907), is the energy that enlivens nationalistic sentiments. Living in this thinking space, building the glory of the present is certainly conditio per quam (the condition by which) the future is protected. The implication is that sharing welfare and distributing justice – including the state’s equal treatment of its citizens and respect for human rights – are efforts to create a "shared memory" impacts the long-term survival of a nation-state.

Destruction and liability

There will come a time – which might even have arrived – when historical memory declines because the people’s energy is being drained in facing the complexities of today and imagining the gloom of tomorrow. Nations that doze in the past will easily become extinct. Social evolution no longer requires people to have a large amount of brain space for history when the present-day realities are increasingly complex.

Moreover, in a post-truth society, truth is no longer a single narrative monopolized by those in power because knowledge does not always flow vertically from top to bottom as imagined by Michel Foucault (1926-1984). Today, knowledge moves randomly and truth is a super-relative postulate. The state needs to work hard to attend to the national spirit. The way to do so is by placing the people at the center of gravity of power.

Massive infrastructure development during Jokowi\'s first term (2014-2019) drew criticism from the opposition. But this was a basic condition to enable human development. If the same development had taken place under 32 years of Soeharto, the work for Jokowi today would have been lighter, assuming that the inner government circle was always solid, because Jokowi would be on his own without synergy!

Civil society is also responsible for maintaining the memory that we are "one nation"

In the millennial era, a shared history is no longer effective in maintaining national solidarity. People see real life. Corruption and the arrogant bourgeoisie have the potential to damage the sense of nationalism. The wide gap between the elite and the people not only makes nationalism an empty narrative: it threatens the extinction of nationalism and also holds the potential to open the door to the rise and development of radicalism.

Although radicalism (and terrorism) does not always correlate with the postulate of injustice, the inevitable fact is that widespread propaganda of injustice is directly proportional to an increase in the number of people exposed to radical thinking. It means that some are true victims of injustice, in addition to victims (a) of false theological indoctrination and (b) of pragmatic political agitation by the defeated who manipulate society for electoral interests. The evidence points to the fact that many in the middle class are also exposed.

To address the threat of radicalism and terrorism, including separatism, a comprehensive scenario is needed. In the short term, the state has no choice but to rely on a security approach – although its consequences are rather complex because the state can easily be accused of tyranny. So, a long-term solution is ideal. The state and civil society must collaborate. The state is present through the institutions of power, administration and public policy to benefit society. On the other hand, civil society acts as an agent to bridge the state and society – a bridge that guarantees the quality of mutual interaction between the state and society within the development framework to maintain the collective national memory.

KOMPAS/LUCKY PRANSISKA

Boni Hargens

It must therefore be noted that civil society organizations must encourage Pancasila as the basic philosophy – civil organizations that adhere to other ideologies or are affiliated with radical groups must be disbanded. Next, maintaining the sanctity of civil society is a must. When political oligarchy and cartelization annex political parties – it has become increasingly clear that the opposition in the legislature is weak, so that many parties have been uprooted from their societal roots – civil society is the last hope: the hope that effective discourse and communication can occur between the people and the state. The liabilities do not lie only in the hands of the state. Civil society is also responsible for maintaining the memory that we are "one nation" – not because of homogeneous ethnicity, religion and race, but because we share the same feelings, reality and goals.

Boni Hargens, Director of the Indonesian Voters Institute (LPI)