Old pledge a lesson<\/p>\n
It is disheartening to learn that thousands of students in a
\nJakarta school had to miss many days of their classes this month
\nbecause of a religious dispute. We are talking about the Sang
\nTimur Catholic School, Tangerang, which was blockaded for three
\nweeks by two groups of residents calling themselves the Karang
\nTengah Islamic Communication Forum and the Islam Youth Front
\nbecause the school had been used for Sunday sermons.<\/p>\n
We picked up this case because today is the 76th anniversary
\nof Youth Pledge Day, a day when more than two dozen youths from
\ndifferent ethnic groups and religious denominations conferred in
\nJakarta (then Batavia) and declared the "one country, one nation
\nand one language" of Indonesia. It was a revolutionary thing to
\ndo under the Dutch colonial government, 17 years before Indonesia
\nwas born. What would the youths have to say today about the
\nschool saga? If religious differences among them was not
\nimportant then, why should it matter today?<\/p>\n
The Constitution guarantees believers the right to practice
\ntheir religions and yet law enforcement officers appeared to be
\nreluctant to address the crime. Constructing a two-meter wall at
\nthe entrance gate of the school, thereby barring students from
\nkindergarten to high school level from classes, is definitely an
\nillegal action.<\/p>\n
Thankfully there are people like Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid,
\na former president and a respected Muslim scholar, and, Seto
\nMulyadi, chairman of the National Commission for Child
\nprotection, who went to the school in search of a solution.
\nAlthough Gus Dur was booed by the residents, his visit was a
\ndisplay of great moral courage not many leaders show today. With
\nthe wall demolished, the students are now back at the school
\nalthough the situation is still tense.<\/p>\n
The wall had already been erected when President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono underlined the importance of pluralism in his
\ninauguration speech.<\/p>\n
Seventy-six years is a long time indeed, but perhaps not so
\nlong for building a nation. In any conflict, it takes two to
\ntango. If one party has grievances so much so that it resorts to
\naction, the other party should withdraw and make a reflection.
\nPerhaps it has done something in the past that might have been
\nconstrued as offensive.<\/p>\n
It appears the students of the Sang Timur school had been
\ndefensive and held their emotions in check. We also commend the
\nangry youths from both sides for containing an incident in the
\nschool compound. In the absence of state officials' intervention,
\nthe two disputing parties somehow managed to restrain themselves.
\nIt now looks like a sort of cooling-off period is taking place.<\/p>\n
Now that the students have returned to their school, we should
\nnot allow ourselves to be overly discouraged by the incident. In
\na pluralistic society, we cannot ignore social tension or deny it
\noccurs. Despite this, the nation keeps on moving forward,
\nalthough, perhaps not at a pace many may want. This year it has
\nheld its first-ever direct presidential election. The 1997
\nfinancial crisis has been a serious blow to the country but its
\npeople somehow survive.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's youth in other examples have shined in numerous
\ninternational sports and science events. Countless other young
\npeople across the archipelago are tirelessly making contributions
\nin their own quiet ways.<\/p>\n
The lesson we can take from the school incident is that we
\nshould not be shy from openly talking about sensitive issues,
\nwhich in the New Order parlance translate to topics related to
\nreligion, race, ethnicity and communal groups.<\/p>\n
Our past habit of sweeping the dirt under the carpet and
\npretending social harmony existed should be quickly abandoned.<\/p>\n
No topic is too sensitive to be addressed in public as long as
\nit is conveyed in an eloquent, cool-headed manner with good
\nintentions.<\/p>\n
Fruitful discussions often unveil the root of resentment in
\nany given issue, which in this particular case may lie in weak
\nlegislation or otherwise.<\/p>\n
By bringing these sensitive issues into the open, we are, in
\neffect, giving a new breath of courage to the nation -- the same
\ncourage that was brilliantly displayed by those youths under the
\nwatchful eyes of the Dutch colonial government.<\/p>\n
Commemoration of Youth Pledge Day may have lost some of its
\nvigor, but it is fulfilling the substance of the pledge that is
\nmore important.<\/p>\n
By addressing the issue head on, we are showing our respect
\nand indebtedness to those visionary youths, despite not
\nremembering the day with pomp and ceremony.<\/p>\n
We are, in effect, living the 1928 pledge.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/old-pledge-a-lesson-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }