Progressive ideas 'should start from grassroots'

Progressive ideas 'should start from grassroots'

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The entrenched patriarchal culture and growing religious
extremism here meant progressive ideas on women and their
position in Islam should be disseminated at the grassroots level
first to minimize serious opposition, women's activists say.

Kamala Chandrakirana, the chairwoman of the National
Commission of Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said
that the case of alternative draft for the Islamic Code of Law
(KHI) showed that the right strategy was needed to promote what
was a controversial issue.

If debates about women were not entered into carefully, they
could result in a backlash that would halt the struggle against
conservatism -- what happened with the KHI, she said.

"The launch of the KHI was a tactical mistake. It served as
more ammunition for conservatives to attack progressive ideas.
KHI defenders then were put in a defensive position, which was
unfortunate," Kamala said on the sidelines of a seminar organized
by the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) on
Saturday.

Designed by a team led by gender expert and Islamic
jurisprudence scholar Siti Musdah Mulia from the religious
affairs ministry, the KHI was an attempt to accommodate
contemporary issues and women's needs, instead of heavily
weighing on male interpretations, she said.

The draft put women in a more powerful position in marriage,
by banning polygamy, giving women equal divorce rights, as
extended to men, as well as the right to marry without the
permission of a guardian.

Many Muslim clerics, however, were angered by draft, with some
calling it satanic and others, comical. The Indonesian Ulema
Council (MUI), a group whose members span from the mainstream to
the extreme fringes of Islam, opposed the draft.

The draft was later retracted by the Minister of Religious
Affairs M. Maftuh Basyuni on February.

Many activists at the meeting called for a revival of the
draft and blasted the government for shutting down public
discourse on the issue, which they said violated the right of
free speech. However, others thought the team had used the wrong
strategy to promote the draft and said its introduction was too
hasty.

Kamala said that despite the retraction, people were still
discussing the draft and the ministry was amazed by the large
support given to Musdah and her team.

"The problem, however, is that MUI has already launched dirty
campaigns against KHI in the Muslim community and in the
mosques," she said.

There were several ways in which the movement of progressive
activists and young Muslim intellectuals remained weak, Kamala
said.

The movement did attempt to engage with or represent crucial
arenas where religious conservatism was maintained and religious
extremism was spreading: Public schools, mosques, prayer groups
(majelis taklim) and television shows.

Activities in the Islamic boarding school (pesantren)
communities were also been too focused on leadership and the
elites, and were not focussed enough on the grass roots, she
said.

Muslim feminists also had not devoted sufficient time to
consider strategies addressing religious extremism among women.

The fragmentation of the progressive movements had also halted
the attempt to disseminate progressive thoughts, she said.

Kamala pointed to Islamic non-governmental organization,
Rahima, which she said had been quite successful in its movement
at the grassroots level.

"The NGO is barely exposed in the media, but they really work
hard with the general public."

While there were many obstacles, there was no need to be
pessimistic as the country was on the right track, she said.

"Progressive ideas about women do not only appear in KHI, but
have already emerged everywhere. In the mosques and the Islamic
schools young people are also talking about these ideas," she
said.

Fellow activist and Muslim scholar Lily Zakiah Munir said that
progressive ideas must be pushed and advocated for continuously.

"There are many ways to do this, but everything must be
orchestrated and coordinated well, instead of people and groups
acting individually," Lily said.