Equal treatment key to stable society
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais underscored on Thursday the importance of respecting differences between people and the need for equal treatment for all as basic tenets of civil society in Indonesia.
Coercion of from one group, especially a majority, on the wishes of others would merely spark conflict which would, in turn, destroy any chance for peaceful coexistence for the entire community, he said.
Speaking at a two-day seminar entitled "Living in a Pluralistic Society," Amien said that Muslims, as the majority here, should take prominent roles in uniting the nation by protecting, while respectfully recognizing, minorities in society.
"Muslims bear that responsibility since, most often, the majority rules the country.
"However, to create harmony, Muslims must remember that they cannot impose their will on other groups in society -- especially minorities," Amien also said at the seminar, which was held jointly by Muhammadiyah Youth and the British Council at the Hilton Hotel.
Amien, who delivered his keynote speech in English, reminded his audience that time after time in different nations, situations in which a majority attempted to impose its will on society end civil society.
He added that Indonesia should draw lessons from the breakaway republics of the former Soviet Union, and the Yugoslav wars of secession in the past decade.
According to Amien, the will imposed by majority groups within the two countries had left the minorities frustrated.
This led to discrimination, followed by unequal job opportunities, which spurred widespread dissatisfaction.
This prolonged frustration eventually led to explosions, and the collapse of the rule of law in some cases.
The two countries used to be big and influential, but because of their discriminatory policies, they finally broke into splintered into smaller states.
"Needless to say, the two countries are now a part of history," Amien, a former lecturer in international relations at Gadjah Mada University, said.
Amien added that the lesson was one that could be taken into consideration by the leaders of this country -- that the majority has to accommodate the interests of religious and ethnic minorities.
However, Amien said that the burden to create a stable society must not only rest with the majority.
Besides having the right to protection, minorities also have an obligation to behave well and respectfully within such a diverse community as Indonesia.
"That is what we are vying for -- to have a balance in the community. Minorities must not be thinking of having a dominant role in the community, since it would merely create a tyranny of the minority, which would also be fertile ground for social chaos," he said.
The best example of this, Amien said, could be seen in the case of Rwanda, where a genocidal pogrom claimed hundreds of thousands of lives over a three-month period before a minority Tutsi government assumed power in the predominantly Hutu nation.
Amien said that he believed such a grievous situation could not happen here, since Indonesia is a tolerant country.
Meanwhile, Haleh Afshar, another speaker in the seminar, stressed that understanding differences would be the best solution to create a civil society in Indonesia.
"The rooms of dialogue among different groups, in terms of race, ethnicity and others must be encouraged to create a better understanding," said Haleh, a professor of politics at the University of York in Britain
Such improved communication would diminish potential social and religious conflicts in a country diverse as Indonesia, she said.