MPR Chair Only Admits Intolerance Is Still A Big Case In This Country

Bambang Soesatyo at the Setara Institute (Tsa Tsia / VOI) event

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet) said that the existence of intolerant groups in Indonesia was not a mere figment. This he conveyed, after listening to the presentation from the SETARA Institute regarding the current condition of freedom of belief or religion in Indonesia.

According to him, it is not impossible that intolerant groups that interfere with freedom of belief in Indonesia also carry radicalism. This intolerant act, according to Bamsoet, could also threaten the diversity that exists in Indonesia.

"Today, it is not only our pluralism that is threatened, but also the ideological threat to the Pancasila state that is real," said Bamsoet in a seminar entitled 'Caring for Diversity, Strengthening the Pancasila State' on Jalan Wahid Hasyim, Central Jakarta, Monday, November 11, 2019.

This Golkar Party politician said the rampant acts of intolerance in Indonesia were due to the inability and unpreparedness of some people to accept differences. This then causes turmoil which is dangerous for unity and integrity.

Apart from talking about intolerance, Bamsoet also mentioned the phenomenon of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) being exposed to radicalism in religion. "The number of ASNs exposed to radicalism is very worrying," he said.

"The Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP) has indicated that ASNs that are proradical or anti-Pancasila are more than 10 percent," added Bamsoet.

Apart from ASN, he also mentioned the use of the TNI and Polri to spread radicalism. Because so far, he said there were four percent of TNI and Polri members who were also exposed to radicalism.

Bamsoet then said, there are several characteristics that can be recognized by those exposed to radicalism. Apart from being intolerant and unwilling to respect opinions and beliefs, he said, people exposed to radicalism usually perceive other people as wrong and feel the most right.

"The third characteristic is that they are exclusive, differentiating themselves from Muslims in general and the fourth tends to use violent means to achieve their goals," he stressed.

So, as one of the leaders of the parliamentary institution in Senayan, Bamsoet said that the MPR RI would continuously socialize the value of Pancasila.

Not only that, his party will also continue to ask the public to maintain tolerance in the midst of their lives. In addition, Bamsoet also mentioned about returning the curriculum to lessons by emphasizing the value of Pancasila.

"We are encouraging the government to regenerate the curriculum for Pancasila value subjects from various levels, both elementary, junior high, high school, even at the college level," he explained.

Government duty

SETARA Institute Research Director, Halili emphasized that the issue of intolerance in Indonesia should be a serious problem for the government and must be handled comprehensively.

He considered, there must be action from the government to resolve this problem. Moreover, in the last 12 years, the number of violations of freedom of belief in Indonesia has reached 2,400 incidents with 3,177 actions.

The actions that must be taken are that the government must design, schedule, and optimize educational institutions by building an educational system that is diverse, open, tolerant, and oriented to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

"Second, the government must position its apparatus, especially the police and local governments, as the front guard in law enforcement, protection of all citizens, and basic defense," said Halili.

Apart from these two things, SETARA considers that the government must guarantee strict and fair law enforcement based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution and optimize education and socialization and literacy related to tolerance to prevent discrimination.

"Fifth, the government strengthens and intensifies the initiative and implementation of equal dialogue between groups and beliefs," he concluded.