By Will Warner, RIAP Intern
Through reading recent headlines coming out of Indonesia, it appears a turbulent debate is being played out between supporters of fundamentalist Islam and moderates. This debate is being shaped by a modern, educated generation of Indonesian elites.
Signs that the importance of fundamentalist Indonesia was to be contested first appeared when FPI, the Islamic Defenders Front, filed charges of indecency against Indonesia’s Miss Universe contestant Nadine Chandrawinata. Jakarta’s Antara News reported FPI took offence at Miss Indonesia ‘harassing’ Indonesian women with her appearance at this year’s Miss Universe competition. What became all too apparent to many observers, however, was that the charges were ultimately an effort to reform national sentiment. This was embodied in FPI’s lawyer asking “if [indecency] law is not respected, what will happen to the country?” (Daily News and Analysis)
Such concerns were also taken up by the MUI (the Ulemas Council), Indonesia’s highest Muslim authority. The MUI led action against the recently-launched Indonesian Playboy magazine, which the MUI allege broke indecency laws (Deutsche Presse-Agentur). Chairman of the MUI Din Syamsuddin threatened that should the state not take action, ‘groups within society’ would take the law to Indonesian Playboy themselves.
Such views are easily and regularly dismissed in many nations as only representative of one or another agenda-driven NGO. However, urgings from the MUI and FPI have been acted on by Indonesia’s police force and government. This was first seen when Jakarta police formally charged the editor of Indonesian Playboy magazine with violating the criminal code (the Denapasar Journal).
The draconian anti-pornography law currently being debated in parliament is evidence that the Indonesian government is also taking interest in this apparent fundamentalist drive. This anti-pornography bill threatens to set womens rights back decades, but has been keenly defended by powerful politicians including the speaker of the house (China’s Peoples’ Daily).
Media coverage suggests these recent Islamic-fundamentalist leanings have been led by the MUI and FPI. Habib Muhammad Riziek Syihab and Din Syamsuddin, the respective leaders of the MUI and FPI, are not, however, academically sheltered or mono-culturally educated leaders. It may be surprising for many in the west to note that these men are instead part of the motivated, cosmopolitan generation of new Indonesians. Syihab was educated in Saudi Arabia yet works in Indonesia for the full implementation of Sharia law. Syamsuddin, holder of a doctorate from a California university, supports a national debate regarding the same and has been tipped as a possible Indonesian political leader of the future.
The moderate side of the debate has also been led by individuals many would consider part of a new-Indonesian generation. Gadis Arivia, a University of Indonesia lecturer is one such moderate, having studied at a French University as well as in the USA. As a co-founder of a feminist journal and prominent personality agitating for the empowerment of Indonesian women, Arivia has repeatedly spoken in opposition to the proposed anti-pornography laws. As the German initiative Qantara reports, Arivia has claimed that the laws not only aim to confine women, but “appear to have an agenda to change this country (Indonesia).”
Also driving the moderate cause is Edith Koesoemawiria, a professional editor and journalist currently working in Europe who regularly publishes articles about what she and others term the ‘Talibanization’ of Indonesian society. While founding her arguments in Indonesian modern history, Koesoemawiria has called for marches and protests until ‘freedom’ is institutionalized and broadly recognized in Indonesia.
People all across Indonesian society are listening. AFP has reported recent small scale, independent protests against the anti-pornography bill in Bali, while Singapore’s Straits Times has covered larger scale organized action against the bill in Jakarta. And perhaps more significantly for the moderates’ cause, Jakarta police recently charged local leaders and members of FPI for publicly defamed those opposing the anti-pornography bill (Straits Times).
From all this, it can be seen that motivated and skilled professionals are having notable effect on the Indonesian national character. Of crucial importance in this, however, is that this up and coming generation is by no means uniformly moderate in their views, as cosmopolitan western-educated professional Indonesians are also advancing the cause of fundamentalist Islam.