International Day Of Tolerance, Days Of Intolerance Of National Opinion

JAKARTA - Today, November 16, the world commemorates International Tolerance Day. This commemoration shows the importance of tolerance as a supporting aspect of human life. However, in some places, tolerance has become an expensive item. Not only concerning SARA. UNESCO also highlights intolerance in freedom of speech. In Indonesia, the state is the main perpetrator of this violation of tolerance.

About International Day of Tolerance, is a commemoration declared by UNESCO in 1995, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its parent organization, the United Nations (UN). On that day, UNESCO member countries adopted the Declaration on the Principles of Tolerance.

One of the contents of the declaration emphasizes that tolerance is respect and respect for cultural diversity, forms of expression, to the most fundamental thing, namely the way we become human. In another explanation, International Day of Tolerance is a memorial for a life that upholds universal human rights and the fundamental freedoms of everyone.

Important, indeed this spirit. Imagine, naturally, humans are born with different characteristics. In fact, the uniqueness of humans is more specific than the classification of ethnicity, religion, race, or group that we know SARA. So, tolerance is an aspect that must be strengthened in order to keep life going in peace and harmony.

And the November 16, 1995 declaration is one way to strengthen tolerance. Not only as a moral responsibility but also as a political and legal condition for every individual, group, even state. For the state, the declaration emphasizes that each country must establish the laws (UU) necessary to ensure equality.

The spirit of this declaration, one of which emphasizes tolerance, which aims to fight influences that cause fear and exclusion or exclusion of others. Tolerance education must also be aimed at making young generations develop critical thinking and ethical reasoning towards others, that differences in language, culture, religion, and even ethnicity should not be the cause of conflict. Differences should be seen as wealth that beautifies the colors of life.

On the UNESCO side, the commemoration of International Tolerance Day is perhaps symbolic. Shouldn't tolerance be a daily practice? Of course, it is. However, choosing one day as a momentum to remind the importance of tolerance is also not wrong. What is important now is how to keep this symbol in the daily lives of the world's citizens.

As well as putting pressure on the political and legal policies of many countries, UNESCO also recognizes those who are able to exert influence on grounding the spirit of tolerance. They are drawn from various fields, from science, culture, to art through the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh award.

Quoted by the Toleranceday.org site, the commemoration of International Tolerance Day is also used to see various conflicts based on intolerance in the world, some of which even feel unending. This commemoration will be used as a lesson on how to move forward towards peace. The spirit that must be passed down from generation to generation to future generations.

The majority of this work focuses on understanding conflict prevention and echoes the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding. This particular year, International Day of Tolerance 2020 focuses on how to adopt an approach to ending conflict and moving towards a more peaceful future.

Regarding the journey to peace full of tolerance, UNESCO has noted many problems. First, conflict is a specific case, where the peaceful approach requires a specific strategy. Globally, the problems that complicate peace efforts are poverty, inequality --social, educational, cultural, political, and climate change.

In the domestic context, political polarization is the most common problem. UNESCO also noted a big problem, namely genocide, as an urgent matter to be resolved.

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In fact, at the most personal and fundamental level, UNESCO emphasizes that children need to be educated in how to deal with contention. Empathy is an essential component of empathy.

Everyone must also understand that other people have the same rights, including in opinion and choosing various things for themselves. The most basic thing that can be done is to focus on the various things that each person has in common.

In Indonesia, tolerance is a question. Religious polarization is still a classic problem. And if freedom of opinion is one of the problems of tolerance formulated by UNESCO, that means it is another problem for Indonesia. In this context, the state is the main actor as well as the worst role model of the violation of tolerance.

For religious harmony, data from the Ministry of Religion show that this country has made progress in the last two years. However, based on a longer series of data, religious harmony in Indonesia has actually declined.

In 2019, the Ministry of Religion released the Religious Harmony Index (KUB) report. As a result, the Indonesian KUB score was recorded at 73.83 from the 0-100 range. This figure is an increase compared to last year's 70.90. However, this figure is in fact also below the 2015 KUB Index which reached 75.36.

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The 2019 report noted the problem of intolerance that actually occurs in big cities. In fact, in DKI Jakarta, the 2019 KUB Index was recorded at 71.3, which means it is below the national average. Below the capital city, there are Jambi (70.7), West Nusa Tenggara (70.4); Riau (69.3); Banten (68.5); West Java (68.5); West Sumatra (64.4); and the most tail is Aceh (60.2).

Another issue regarding tolerance concerns freedom of expression. The government of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) -Maruf Amin is the main perpetrator of this violation of tolerance. The results of the Indonesian Political Indicators (IPI) survey in October 2020 stated the high intolerance of the government in the freedom of opinion of its citizens.

The survey shows that there are 57.7 percent of the population who agree that the authorities are increasingly arbitrary to arrest citizens who voice different political views from the government. The survey was conducted on 1,200 respondents by telephone from September 24 to September 30, 2020.

"The public thinks that Indonesia is increasingly undemocratic, the more afraid people are to express their opinions, the more difficult it is for citizens to demonstrate, and the apparatus is judged to be increasingly arbitrary, the more depressed satisfaction with the performance of democracy will be," said Executive Director of Indonesian Political Indicators Burhanuddin Muhtadi.

The indicators in this survey also highlight the difficulty of citizens holding demonstrations. As a result, 20.8 percent stated strongly. 53 percent of respondents said they somewhat agreed that it was increasingly difficult for residents to demonstrate, and only 19.6 percent of respondents disagreed that it was increasingly difficult for residents to aspire on the street. The smallest share, 1.5 percent said they did not agree at all.

The great irony of a democratic country also emerged through respondents who agreed that citizens were increasingly afraid to express their opinions. There are 21.9 percent of respondents who strongly agree and 47.7 percent somewhat agree. "The survey shows an increasing threat to civil liberties. The majority of the public tends to agree or strongly agree that nowadays citizens are increasingly afraid to voice their opinions," he said.

The chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) highlighted this situation, including the role of the government as the main perpetrator of this violation of tolerance of opinion. According to Asfin, the use of the apparatus as a means of silencing opinions and criticism was evident in the Jokowi-Maruf administration.

There is one thing that, according to Asfin, causes a setback in democracy. The desire to build a Jokowi government, which is often not based on mature planning and considerations such as social, cultural or environmental aspects, is one of the causes. The government knows that many mistakes have been made. And narratives about mistakes that are often criticized can be dangerous for the political stability of the rulers.

"The government's tendency to prioritize developmentism is the reason for stability," Asfin told VOI, Monday, November 16.

This needs to be realized. That tolerance is not just a matter of religious freedom, ethnic / ethnic equality, or the peace of a group. In a democratic climate, ensuring tolerance of opinion is maintained is also important.

"It is very important. He (tolerance of opinion) is an indicator of democracy because there is no freedom of opinion, let alone other rights," said Asfin.

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