Scholars must make ideological stand
Scholars must make ideological stand
JAKARTA (JP): Scholars in Indonesia must assert their ideological beliefs instead of remaining on the sidelines as "objective observers", Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said yesterday.
Speaking after a ceremony to install new deputies at the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Moerdiono said that scholars cannot remain neutral when it comes to strategic matters.
They should be able to follow up the political will of the people, the sovereignty of the country, he said.
Such ideological support can only come from Indonesian intellectuals, certainly not from foreign scholars, he added.
Moerdiono installed Soemarjato Kajatmo as LIPI vice chairman to replace Aprilani Soegiarto, who is retiring. He also installed Ardjoeno Brojonegoro as deputy for social and humanity sciences, Anugerah Nontji as deputy for natural sciences, Nilyardi Kahar as deputy for Technical Sciences and Djoko Pitono as deputy for Supervising of Scientific Facilities.
LIPI chairman Soefjan Tsauri and several senior government officials and senior researchers were present at the ceremony.
Moerdiono's office oversees the activities of LIPI.
"I gave deep thought to this issue before I expressed this message to you," Moerdiono said during the ceremony.
"Deep in my heart, I also had concerns that ideological commitments could undermine the quality of Indonesian intellectuals," he said.
The minister said that his concerns were dispelled after he read a paper written by Miriam Budiardjo, a senior LIPI political researcher, expounding the so-called post behavioral approach.
He said Miriam in her paper quoted David Easton, who believes that scholars should feel committed to changing society for the better.
In essence, Easton states that scholars should be "action- oriented", he said.
"I believe that the post behavioral approach is also relevant for scholars in other disciplines. The ideological commitment of scholars is legitimate and acceptable," Moerdiono said.
If this concept is accepted, every scholar in Indonesia must study the national ideology in-depth.
He recalled that the late Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice president and a respected statesman, had already expounded the concept of a responsible intelligentsia in 1957.
Moerdiono said that the government is counting on carefully thought-out suggestions from the intellectual community to help it make decisions. "When giving their suggestions, these intellectuals are expected to take ideological factors into account," he said.
The minister also took the opportunity to apologize for the delay in installing the deputies, whose appointments were approved by President Soeharto last July.
"Politically I'm responsible for this. But I will investigate the matter and find out who on my staff was responsible." (31)
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