Nationalism plunges to lowest level: Youth activists

Nationalism plunges to lowest level: Youth activists

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In observance of the Youth Pledge Day on Oct. 28, some activists
were saddened that nationalism in the country had fallen to one
of its lowest levels ever due to numerous conflicts, violence and
terrorist issues threatening the country's survival as a nation
state.

Leaders from the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI),
and the Indonesian Catholic Students Association (PMKRI) said
separately on Sunday that the prolonged conflicts in Aceh,
Maluku, Papua and the series of terror bombings were threatening
the country's national unity.

GMNI Presidium Chairman Bambang Rumada said the bloody
conflicts in Aceh and Maluku and other regions had a lot to do
with the inequality of power distribution and the absence of
justice during the New Order era.

"As long as the distribution of power and justice are
considered unfair, national unity will remain threatened. People
will become more and more cynical about nationalism," he told The
Jakarta Post.

In addition to domestic threats, globalization with its free
market system also posed a threat to people of losing their
national identity, he said.

According to him, globalization was affecting the country
since international organizations and institutions like the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank had dictated to
the country to save it from bankruptcy.

"We can't stop globalization, but we must be able to develop
our character, our ability to compete with other nations, not
just follow orders from other nations," he said.

He added the oaths of one nation, one language and one
motherland youths uttered in 1928 were real challenges for all
the groups of people to cope with the problems, including the
present terrorist issue.

PMKRI Chairman Robert J.E. Nalenan said that nationalistic
feelings needed to be "refreshed" to prevent the nation from
collapse.

He said the country had so far failed to develop a common
national character, but only produced people who believed in
communal politics and primordialism.

"We must dare to get out of our obsolete frame of mind to
maintain our national unity. Better understanding of pluralism is
needed, otherwise the country will collapse," he told the Post.

He said bloody conflicts in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and in
Maluku and demands for separation in Aceh and Papua were part of
the failure to understand pluralism.

Consequently, Pancasila, national ideology, had been weakened
because everybody was reluctant to talk about it, he said.

Pancasila comprises five virtues on one god, humanity,
national unity, democracy and social justicem.

Robert also urged the government to seriously implement
decentralization to meet regional demands so they would have
wider power to manage their own regions.

"In the past, centralization (overall control from Java) only
created problems of unfair wealth distribution and injustice to
all the outer islands. So don't just pretend to carry out
decentralization to appease people," he said.