A silent majority

A silent majority

An eye-catching headline marked the front-page of The Jakarta
Post of March 27, reading Muslim majority urged to rise and speak
out. The report highlighted a discussion between foreign
ambassadors and a group of prominent religious and community
leaders held in Jakarta on March 26.

Muhammadiyah, as the second largest Muslim group in the
country, can congratulate itself on the fact that it was brave
enough to sponsor this unique event. The challenging theme of the
discussion read: Islam and the West working together for a
peaceful world. Judging from what has happened lately, the topic
seemed timely and well-thought out.

Some of the ambassadors appeared to be forthright in their
views, even to the extent of dictating a desired course of the
action to what was described as the Muslim majority. One
ambassador reportedly warned that if the mainstream remained
silent and permitted the minority of radicals to prevail, society
would become disrupted and lose its sense of direction.

Naturally, the envoys did not fail to comprehend the
fundamental axiom that Islam should not be equated with terrorist
violence. As to the point that the majority should speak up and
no longer be the "silent majority", the envoys seemed to be
unequivocally united in their perceptions.

However, at this point one characteristic should not be
ignored, namely that the concept of civil society is still in its
infancy here following decades under an authoritarian regime.

The fact that paternalism still plays a dominant role in our
society cannot be denied. Without vocal leadership from the top
level itself, the (intellectual) majority may feel unable to
speak out.

Another phenomenon that reflects paternalism needs to be cited
here. This is the frequent or common absence of a majority of
legislators from sessions of the House of Representatives,
irrespective of the importance of the subject that is to be
deliberated and decided upon by the House. By the same token,
this shows that their moral sense of duty to the electorate
leaves much to be desired.

S. SUHAEDI

Jakarta