Believers Officially Included in Religion Column on ID Cards and Family ID in Today's Memory, November 7, 2017

Salah satu aktivitas penghayat kepercayaan tradisional di Indonesia. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA – Today’s memory, seven years ago, November 7, 2017, the Constitutional Court (MK) decided that those who adhere to religious beliefs are recognized by the state administratively. This means that the state also guarantees that every religious believer can fill in the religion column on their ID cards and family cards.

Previously, the government had never been serious about recognizing religious believers. Their presence is indeed recognized. The problem is that in the administration, religious believers are like being isolated from the six official religions. Their religion cannot be written on their ID cards or family cards.

The first principle in Pancasila emphasizes the belief in one God. This means that every citizen is given freedom of religion. The issue of divinity then becomes an important guideline for living in society.

The problem is that the Indonesian government only accommodates six official religions. These include Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Religions outside the six official religions are not recognized administratively.

This condition applies to adherents of Indonesian ancestral beliefs – believers in beliefs such as Ugamo Bangsa Batak, Sapto Darma, and Marapu. Anyone who adheres to a belief system will have difficulty obtaining their rights as Indonesian citizens.

A meeting of indigenous belief systems in Indonesia. (ANTARA)

This condition is because in principle, belief systems are recognized. However, administratively they are not. This condition refers to Article 61 paragraph (1) and Article 64 (1) of Law Number 23/2006 concerning Population Administration.

The point is that belief systems are only allowed to leave the religion column blank. They are not allowed to write their religion. This condition is considered to be detrimental to Indonesia's diversity. Belief systems are religions that originate from the ancestors of Indonesians, not imported religions like the six official religions.

At its peak, the Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) and others challenged the article regarding leaving the religion column blank at the Constitutional Court. They want belief systems to be recognized by the Indonesian government. The trial lasted throughout 2017.

"So, Your Honor, I am here and I am very grateful, Your Honor, because I can meet Your Honor face to face. Help us, Your Honor, don't ask for much from us, Your Honor. We just want to be helped by Your Honor, in the KTP column so that it is not a column with a dash (-), but Your Honor's Trust," said Ugamo Bangsa Batak survivor, Rosni Simarmata to the Constitutional Court judges quoted on detik.com, May 5, 2017.

They are part of the belief community who have hopes that the Constitutional Court can grant their request. Pucuk dicinta ulam tiba. The long-awaited wish of the believers came on November 7, 2017.

The Constitutional Court officially granted all lawsuits related to the emptying of the religion column on KTP by believers. The Constitutional Court's decision makes believers have the same status as the six official religions. Their religion can also appear on KTP and KK.

The decision was greeted with great enthusiasm by believers throughout Indonesia. The decision seemed to end the discrimination that ancestral religions were inferior to imported religions.

"That's good. I'm very happy with Arief Hidayat because his sentence is very good. We recognize imported religions, why don't we recognize ancestral religions. That's right. So, then people fool other people, fool the public that only those six religions are recognized by law. Not true. So, the MK's step is very good."

"They were recognized and then he made an ID card. So far, they didn't have an ID card so they couldn't take care of smart cards, couldn't take care of health cards, couldn't get BPJS. Now they can be the same as other citizens who have an ID card. I think that's a good step forward," said sociologist, Thamrin Amal Tomagola as quoted by kompas.com, November 7, 2017.