Negligent Or Deliberate, The Loss Of The Profile Of The Founder Of NU By The Ministry Of Education And Culture Must Be Traced

JAKARTA - The PPP DPR RI faction has asked for the loss of the name KH Hasyim Asy'ari in Volume I of the Indonesian History Dictionary compiled by the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) to be investigated and examined for the facts. This is in order to find reasons for not including the founding figure of NU because of negligence or deliberate action.

"Considering that KH Hasyim Asy'ari is a national figure, it makes no sense to forget the reasons," said Secretary of the PPP faction Achmad Baidowi in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 21.

The controversy, according to him, could be suspected as an effort to eliminate the role of Islamic figures in the struggle for Indonesian independence. At the same time eliminating the introduction of Islamic heroes to the nation's future generations.

"This should be suspected as an attempt to erase the historical traces of the Islamic figures who founded NU from the memory of the younger generation," said Baidowi.

The deputy chairperson of the DPR Baleg considered that the Kemendikbud argument that the book had not been printed and was only a draft showed the unprofessionalism of the ministry led by Nadiem Makarim.

Because, if the draft does not circulate, there will be no control from the community and the Indonesian history dictionary will be printed without the name KH Hasyim Asy'ari.

For this reason, said Awiek, the PPP faction asked the competent authorities to take responsibility for this negligence.

"Because this also shows the unprofessionalism of officials at the Ministry of Education and Culture," he concluded.

It is known, the Indonesian History Dictionary Volume I became a polemic because it did not include the name of the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Kiai Haji Hasyim Asy'ari but instead contained the names of figures with communist ideals such as DN Aidit and Darsono Notosudirjo.

After protests by many parties, the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) apologized for his negligence.

This apology was conveyed by the Director General (Dirjen) of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture Hilmar Farid through an online press conference. He admitted that there was negligence related to the loss of the profile of Kiai Haji Hasyim Asy'ari from the dictionary.

The Ministry of Education and Culture claims that the dictionary that is widely circulating in the community in the form of digital copies is actually still being worked on and has not been further edited.

"In conclusion, yes, this is a complete negligence. The manuscript which was not ready (published, red) was then published on the website," Hilmar said in an online press conference, Tuesday, April 20.

He explained, the Indonesian History Dictionary Volume I was done in 2017. However, until the end of the fiscal year, work has not been completed.