Asghar Ali Engineer

(Secular Perspective, August 16-31, 2000)

Various third world countries are experiencing great social turmoil along tribal, caste, communal or ethnic lines. Indonesia, too, is no exception to this. It is undergoing ethnic and communal turmoil these days. I was keen to know more about it. Fortunately I got an invitation to participate in an international conference at Yogyakarta on “Abrahamic religions and Modern challenges”. I accepted the invitation and participated in the said conference from 5-10 August 2000. It gave me an opportunity to discuss the fragile communal and ethnic situation in Indonesia with concerned scholars some of whom were present in the conference also.

It is good fortune for Indonesia that in this hour of crisis a man of broad vision and a liberal and secular scholar like Abdur Rehman Wahid is its President. Abdur Rehman is the head of one of the most widespread religious organisation called Nahdatul Ulama and thus wields great influence on the religious life also. He has graduated in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar and is fluent in Arabic besides English and his own native language Bhasa. I met him in Jakarta and had a long discussion with him on the fragile communal situation. There is no doubt that in this hour of crisis it is a man like Wahid who can hold the country together. It is great tribute to his person that minorities are looking up to him for their security and well being.

The situation under Suharto was no less precarious. But then due to Suharto’s authoritarian regime the tension was below the surface. It happens in all the dictatorial regimes that the social tensions remain hidden and erupt suddenly when dictatorship is removed. This is what has happened in Indonesia too. Now that there is democratic regime these tensions which were suppressed earlier are surfacing with great gusto. It would have been surprising if they had not. I have visited Indonesia thrice before during Suharto regime and had felt these tensions during my discussions with Muslims and other minorities.

Before we discuss the communal situation in Indonesia it is interesting to note that though it has overwhelming Muslim majority – above 85% it has never been declared an Islamic state formally. There is constant RSS propaganda that Muslims when in minority take refuge under secularism but when in majority declare the country to be an Islamic one. Indonesia has never done so and is not likely to do so though there is great deal of pressure now from some fundamentalist Muslims. These fundamentalists are holding demonstrations to declare Shari`ah law as the law of the state and the state to be governed by Islamic laws.

However, the vast majority of Muslims in Indonesia is against fundamentalism and they fully support the doctrine of Panchsila which is quite secular doctrine. I met large number of students both male and female who support secular politics and are quite apprehensive of growing influence of fundamentalism in some quarters. They inquired from me whether Islam can support secular politics. I gave them example of prominent Indian Ulama like Maulana Husein Ahmad Madani and Maulana Azad who issued religious injunctions in favour of secular state. In Indonesia there are large number of Pesantrans (a combination of Sanskrit and Bhasa for religious school which we call madrasa in India) which impart religious and secular education and thousands of students graduate from these Pasantrans every year and join universities in different parts of Indonesia. Thus these students are well versed in religious issues and many of them can speak English and Arabic fluently. I visited one such Pasentaran near Yogyakarta and met the staff and students. There is co-education in many of these Pasentrans. What was surprising was that students welcomed us through their traditional Javanese music and dance. They were wearing traditional Javanese dresses and headgears. Both the students and teachers talked to me both in Arabic and English.

Also, there is great awareness of female education in at least urban areas and what is important is that many of these female students are getting educated in these pasentrans thus acquiring religious knowledge too. I met some of these women teachers and students who are much concerned with the issue of gender justice and some of these women have done doctorate on gender justice in Islam and at least two of them were doing Ph.D. on my work on rights of women in Islam. Thus it was a pleasant surprise to me that many students in Indonesia are quite liberal and secular in their attitude. Not only that but they are quite prepared to take on fundamentalists.

However, that does not mean that there are no serious problems with the Indonesian today. As pointed out before there is serious strife in certain areas like Ambon between Muslims and Christians. There too conversion is a sore point. As in India there are exaggerated fear of conversion leading to increase in Christian population. Some fundamentalists maintain that the Christian target is to increase their population up to fifty per cent and hence the Jehadi Muslims are crying hoarse declaring Jehad against the Christians. They are attacking each other in these areas. Ambon where Christians have their concentration is in turmoil. In second week of July more than 28 people were killed in Ambon. Ambon is a spice rich island of Indonesia.

Residents said the seven persons were killed in bitter fighting which raged despite the deployment of heavily armed police and soldiers after 14 people were killed on July 13. Gunshots and explosions echoed across the once picturesque harbourside city of Ambon, the main city of Moluccas, and thick piles of smoke choked the air as mobs rampaged and torched buildings on Sunday. It is not only the Muslims killing the Christians in Ambon but also the Christians killing the Muslims. Thus a Muslim leader informed that at least five Muslims were killed on 14th July and six a day later.

Similarly in the tiny port of Temate, street signs urge young men to join the Laskar Jihad and attack Christians on neighbouring Halmahera Island in Moluccas where dozens were killed in third week of June. We have to fight and destroy them, said Faisal Ansar, commander of a Muslim militia. The Christians massacred us six months ago. It’s time to take back our land, Faisal said. Over the past 18 months more than 2,500 people of both faiths have been killed in a bloody cycle of sectarian violence across the Malukus, a remote archipelago known as the Spice Islands during the Dutch colonial times. It would be seen that the strife is mainly taking place in the coastal areas as it was in these areas that conversion took place during the colonial rule. Street battles among the rival religious gangs are brutal. Hundreds charge with swords, spears, bows and arrows, homemade guns. Now modern weapons are starting to creep into the conflict. The fighting took a horrifying turn around 3rd week of June when 4,000 Muslim fighters descended on Duma, a predominantly Christian village on Halmehra. The Church workers said more than 180 people were killed, while the government officials put the death toll at 108. Either figure made it one of the worst single incidents in the fighting.

It is important to note that Abdur Rehman Wahid a great exponent of communal harmony in Indonesia himself headed a peace mission to Ambon late last year. But unfortunately the fighting again broke out the day after he left. It is indeed sad that blood is flowing as Indonesia is grappling with its worst economic crisis and a painful transition to democracy after three decades of authoritarian rule. Acheh is another trouble spot in Indonesia today. It is not so much between the Christians and the Muslims in Acheh but fundamentalists and liberal Muslims. The Acheh fundamentalist Muslims are demanding establishment of an Islamic state there and application of Shari`ah laws. They even want secession from Indonesia.

Indonesian society too is very complex one. Java is much more liberal as it enjoys composite culture. It was Java which was ruled by Hindus from eighth century onwards and the Hindu rule has left a deep imprint on Javanese culture. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are the main constituents of the Javanese culture with Islamic and Hindu influences dominating. Hindu names like Sita, Laxman, Ram are common place among the Muslims. The Indonesian Bhasa is also composite one mainly consisting of Sanskrit, Latin and native tongues. You will find Sanskrit and Latin words in every sentence alongwith the native words. It is not only the language but way of life is affected by the composite nature of the Javanese culture. No wonder then that this region is much more tolerant and free of conflict. But it is also true that there are fewer Hindus and Christians in this region. Even the Ramayana and the Mahabharata dances in Java are performed by the Muslims as very few Hindus are around. But it cannot be denied that composite culture has made this region much more tolerant.

But this is not true of other regions in Indonesia and it is these regions which are experiencing the violent conflict. Hindus are mainly located in the Bali Island and are not a growing community any way. Thus the question of any confrontation between Muslims and Hindus does not arise at all. In Bali, I am told by Ms.Koka, the Gandhian leader from Bali and now member of Parliament that there is slight tension between Hindus and Muslims in Bali but it has never taken any violent form. She too is quite liberal and secular in her attitude and is quite close to the President Abdur Rehman Wahid and is supportive of his efforts to maintain communal harmony. Buddhists are a small minority indeed and cannot become cause for any conflict or tension with any other community. The Chinese are 2-1/2 per cent but are economically quite powerful and hence when the Indonesian economy went downhill the Chinese, seen as those responsible for it, came under attack. Now the Chinese no more face any problem after initial violence.

Indonesian democracy, it will be seen, is having serious teething trouble. Unemployment is on the rise due to economic crisis and economy is still far from on the road to recovery. And as long as unemployment is on the rise the youth will not only be in rage but it is likely to be diverted through communal channels. Mr. Abdur Rehman Wahid is facing serious political problems but he is the only hope for Indonesia. It is he who can hold the country together when communal, sectarian and secessionist forces are raising their heads.

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Centre for Study of Society and Secularism

Mumbai:- 400 055.