Indonesia: Government, society told to reject religious intolerance

“I believe that the presence of religious symbols in public spaces is not necessarily opposed to the principles of the modern state and democracy, as both have roots in the notion of individual freedom framed within our constitution.” 

Photo: ASEAN Foundation

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Post
By The Jakarta Post | March 15, 2012

Indonesians are becoming more religious and, at the same time, intolerant of different religious identities, which threatens the basic foundation of pluralism in Indonesia, an international seminar in Jakarta concluded.

“No country is free from religious intolerance. It is the collective responsibility of both government and society to ensure that religious intolerance is roundly rejected,” Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia Mackenzie Clugston said in his welcoming remarks at the international conference on the “Religion in Public Spaces in Contemporary Southeast Asia” on Tuesday.

The two-day conference was organized by the Embassy of Canada and the State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta to celebrate 60 years of Canadian-Indonesian diplomatic relations and 35 years of the Canada-ASEAN relationship.

Thanks to the Islamic revivalism trend worldwide in general and in Southeast Asia in particular, religion has become an important element in public spaces in recent decades.

“Democratization that has been experienced by countries in Southeast Asia has allowed more freedom for people to exercise their religious beliefs,” Komaruddin Hidayat, rector of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, said.

“Social groups, including religious groups, have increasingly played a greater role in changing the public discussion in terms of how religion should be positioned in the country’s development.”

Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar saw this trend in a positive light.

“I believe that the presence of religious symbols in public spaces is not necessarily opposed to the principles of the modern state and democracy, as both have roots in the notion of individual freedom framed within our constitution,” Nasaruddin said.

While speaking about multiculturalism and religious diversity, Nasaruddin said, Indonesia — the world’s largest Muslim-majority population — has been praised for providing a good model for multiculturalism and managing the country’s religious diversity.

“Multiculturalism, it must be remembered, is a celebration of diversity, not divisive,” Nasaruddin said.

“In Indonesia, multireligious harmony is the very foundation of meaningful social stability, economic growth and political development,” he added.

ASEAN Foundation executive director Makarim Wibisono said that ASEAN, which plans to establish a community in 2015, should focus more on interfaith dialogue to achieve peace and harmony in the region.

“It is needed to promote inter-racial and interfaith dialogue with a view to increasing the respect to freedom of religion or belief and opposing all forms of intolerance,” Makarim said.


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