Recently, the Indonesian government has been pushing back against the increasing political influence of Islamist hardliners in the country, with President Joko Widodo committing to a campaign to rid the country of organizations that go against Pancasila (the state ideology that guarantees equality amongst the country’s officially recognized religions) no matter the political costs.
Pancasila became the founding principle of Indonesia despite powerful factions that wanted the soon-to-be independent country to become an Islamic caliphate state that followed sharia law. Pancasila was created to help unite the archipelago’s different ethnicities and cultures into one nation and one people. It’s an idea that many of those who fought for Indonesia’s independence died for.
The video below, titled “Reaction of veterans to seeing a video of students pledging themselves to a caliphate state” has quickly gone massively viral since it was posted by Dhani Hargo (one of the video’s producers) on Facebook late Tuesday night, earning over 47,000 shares as of the time of writing.
The video that the veterans are watching at the beginning comes from the National Symposium of the Campus Preaching Association Body (BKLDK) which took place at Bogor Agricultural University in March 2016.
In the video, the students are holding up their hands and recite the following pledge: With all of our souls, we will keep on ceaselessly fighting to bring forth Islamic sharia under the auspices of an Islamic Caliphate state as a solution to the problems of the people of Indonesia.
Here is how the veterans reacted to the video:
Vet #1: “They want Indonesia to be made into another country? An Islamic country? I do not… I don’t agree.”
Vet #2: We fought, not just for the Muslim people, not for the people of other religions, no, we all fought together to achieve independence.
Vet #3: As a fighter that is disabled, no I can’t agree.
Vet # 4: It’s not needed. Because Indonesia is an archipelago of many different people with many different religions and later, if they founded [a caliphate] then later it would create divisions.
Vet #1: I am also a Muslim but Pancasila is supposed to allow for all religions.
Vet #2: I still feel that the unifying state ideology of Pancasila is the most appropriate (for Indonesia).
Vet #4: Maybe the young generation has forgotten, Indonesian independence was not achieved by just one group, so veterans still choose Pancasila. If you agree with us, don’t be afraid to let your voice be heard by those around you. The voice of the veterans will remain the same, even after we are gone.
It’s a really powerful video (there may have been some onions in the room while we were watching it) and its message is an extremely important one for Indonesia right now.
Listen to your elders, kids.
Reader Interactions