Discourse on nationalism on the wrong track

By Santi WE Soekanto

JAKARTA (JP): Today's National Awakening Day is not the routine ritual that we have seen each year in the past. President Soeharto wants it to mark Indonesia's Second National Awakening.

Soeharto appealed last week to the people to reinvigorate their sense of nationalism so they could better handle the current trend of rapid global change. However, he also warned against chauvinism.

"Our national vision must not turn us into dwarfs. We live in a community of nations," Soeharto said. "On the other hand, our national vision must not be overpowered by global changes. Without a national vision, we will lose our identity."

"That is why we should continuously invigorate our sense of nationalism. (This) way we can answer the challenges and opportunities ahead of us," he said.

May 20, 1908 marked the founding of Boedi Oetomo, the first organization resembling a national movement while Indonesia was still a Dutch colony. The movement grew and Indonesia gained its independence in 1945.

Over the past week, there have been discourses about whether Indonesia needs the more "internationalistic," or outward-looking nationalism or the kind of nationalism which encourages unity.

Prominent historian Taufik Abdullah believed the current discourses are moving in the wrong direction. Along with political scientist Dr. Maswadi Rauf, whom The Jakarta Post interviewed separately, Taufik believed that the plan to turn the second 25-year development plan into the nation's second awakening era will be a road filled with obstacles.

Among those obstacles are the demands for protection of protect human rights and a freer democracy, which are felt more acutely in the face of the rapid global change.

Another problem

Another problem which the nation has to contend with, according to Maswadi, is the eroding sense of nationalism.

Taufik, however, believed it was not a matter of eroding nationalism. He felt that the problems emerge because people have been holding on to the wrong kind of nationalism.

According to Taufik, there is "cultural nationalism" and "political nationalism".

He felt that the country was built on political nationalism, based on the spirit of independence and democratic political order. In his view, the current discourses are oriented toward cultural nationalism which is based on the tradition of Javanese sultanates.

The dichotomy creates confusion. "That's why people campaign for nationalism but then claim that Indonesia does not recognize the 'culture' of resigning as a form of accountability for a person's wrongdoing," he said.

Historians said the discussion of nationalism went back 85 years ago when a number of scholars set up Boedi Oetomo.

The organization was influential in promoting education and modernization, and numerous later political movements owed their existence to the efforts of this pioneering organization.

According to Taufik, Boedi Oetomo was taken over in October 1908 from students and activists by a group of ningrat (people who were related to Javanese royals). Its founder, Dr. Tjipto Mangunkusumo left the organization because his suggestion that it be involved in politics, was rejected.

Boedi Oetomo then became more involved in cooperative politics and in developing "the national identity and personality", which were later crystallized into a "cultural nationalism".

Tjipto, on the other hand, became more resolute in his efforts to establish a new, independent political order. His ideas became the foundation of a type of political nationalism.

According to Taufik, Indonesia's independence movement was influenced by the far-reaching, visionary political nationalism. The revolution, the 1945 proclamation of independence, the Constitution, and the state-ideology Pancasila were a reflection of this.

It was in this spirit that Indonesia's first president, Soekarno, declared that "ours is not a royalist nationalism; ours is a people-nationalism", according to Taufik.

"Our country was built on a vision for the future, on political nationalism," Taufik said. "However, people now are trying to invigorate the cultural nationalism, which is based on the tradition of kraton".

Most pressing

Maswadi Rauf said that one of the most pressing questions now is how to instill a sense of nationalism in the young people. "It is eroding, and we should see this as a warning."

According to Maswadi, the second national awakening should be filled with efforts to maintain people's loyalty toward the country. "We should remind people to exhibit their nationalism by, for instance, avoiding activities which are harming the country."

People who tarnish Indonesia's name abroad and those who are busy making money without heeding the suffering of other people are displaying signs of nationalist erosion, he added. "Considering these conditions, then the issue of second national awakening and the need to instill a strong sense of nationalism are still relevant."

However, Maswadi admitted that even the most effective campaign to instill nationalism would be pointless without the presence of social justice. "No matter how well ethnic groups coexist here, the lack of social justice will weaken national loyalty and, instead, strengthen loyalty to religious, ethnic or tribal groups."