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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