Beware of the forces of social disintegration: Gen. Feisal
Beware of the forces of social disintegration: Gen. Feisal
JAKARTA (JP): Increasing prejudices among the people could
lead to the disintegration of society, Armed Forces Chief Gen.
Feisal Tanjung warned yesterday.
"Out of these prejudices unhealthy social phenomena develop,"
Feisal told about 300 ulemas taking part in the national congress
of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI).
He cited jealousy, friction, frustration, tension and
conflicts of interest as some of the current signs of social
problems.
Feisal also warned of the increasing tendency to place one's
group -- ethnic, racial or other group -- above other groups in
society.
He called the tendency "primordialism" and defined it as a a
narrow cultural sentiment or belief that one's group is better
than the others.
"This development is a fertile ground for the growth of
su'uzhon (suspicions and prejudices)," he said.
Such sentiment encourages people to establish "exclusive
groups" and tends view people as occupying conflicting positions.
"This creates a feeling of 'us against them'", he said.
Feisal also spoke of the danger of polarization among social
groups on the basis of ethnicity or religion, known officially as
SARA, an acronym standing for "ethnic group, religion, race and
social group".
He said that there was broad agreement in the nation that SARA
issues were potential threats to security and stability.
Along with the rush towards globalization, however, the
potential sources of danger to national stability had developed
into what he called "SARA plus".
"This means that we have to keep on watching out for the
potential for conflicts arising from (group differences) which
are permanent in nature," he said.
In addition, society has to also guard against problems
arising from situations which emerge in the forms of "land
disputes, labor, democracy, politics, economics and other
issues."
Conflicts which arose from religious differences, "tend to
leave very deep scars" and may cost the country very greatly, he
said.
Feisal was more upbeat in the other parts of his speech.
Universal issue
He told the ulemas that, along with the danger of
disintegration, other forces were at work in society to balance
the polarizing influence of group differences.
"In a fast-changing society, a process of integration is also
taking place," he said. This particular process would strengthen
social solidarity, national unity and people's awareness of their
identity as a nation, he said.
He told the ulemas that national integration was a universal
issue, something which every nation has to deal with.
Earlier in the day, Minister of Information Harmoko addressed
the gathering, reminding the ulemas of the role of the mass media
in developing the character of the Indonesian people and
instilling in them strong ethics.
He called people in the media business "the trustees of
society" who, he said, were bound by an unwritten social contract
to deliver only material that was informative, educational and
non-violent.
On the sidelines of the congress, however, several ulemas were
spotted hotly arguing over the circulation of a film tabloid,
published by a politically well-connected group, which runs
photos of scantily-clad women. Some ulemas were heard to describe
the tabloid as "pornography".
"We have to complain about this to Minister Harmoko," said one
of the ulemas. (swe)