Indonesia: Rich Hindu Past and Moderate Muslim Future
By Nick Gier, New West Unfiltered 2-09-08
AND MODERATE MUSLIM FUTURE
By Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho (ngier@uidaho.edu)
In 1991 I went on a two-week Smithsonian tour of Bali, the Indonesian island most famous for its dances, craft arts, and Hindu festivals. As I boarded a Garuda International flight in Los Angeles, I was impressed that a nation that is 90 percent Muslim would name its airline after a Hindu deity.
In every major building, we saw pictures of then President Suharto, the army general who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years. This past month Suharto died after a prolonged illness.
Under the leadership of its first president Sukarno, Indonesia played a major role in the Non-Aligned Movement. Although Sukarno claimed to be neutral in the Cold War, the U.S. nevertheless was suspicious of his friends in the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which increased its vote from 16.4 percent in the 1955 elections to 34 percent in 1957.
In the late 1950s, the U.S. had been secretly funding right-wing elements in the Indonesian military, and on September 30, 1965, left-wing officers, fearing that they would be purged, murdered six top generals, all of them U.S. trained.
Major General Suharto stepped in, took control, and planned a national-wide crack down on the PKI and the labor unions. Although there was no evidence that the PKI had anything to do with the military revolt, Suharto ordered his troops to track down leftists wherever they could be found.
Lacking sufficient intelligence, the CIA provided Suharto with a very long list of names, and, in addition, 50 million rupiah, arms, and ammunition. The best estimate of the slaughter is 500,000 dead. Another 300,000 civilians died in military action in East Timor and other places where Indonesians dared to protest Suharto’s rule.
When I asked our Balinese guide what he thought of Suharto, he expressed utter disdain for him. Comprising only 1.6 percent of the 1965 population, 50,000 Balinese were sacrificed to Cold War ideology. Some of those killed were members of our guide’s family.
Starting in the 7th Century A.D., Hindus and Buddhists from India established prosperous kingdoms in Indonesia, and the largest Buddhist stupa in antiquity is found at Borobudur on the island of Java.
Today Muslim shadow puppeteers entertain large audiences with night-long performances of the Hindu epics—the Mahabharata or the Ramayana—moving all the figures, reciting the verses, and playing a drum all at the same time—a single master artist working without a break.
Contrary to widespread belief, Islam did not spread in Indonesia by the sword. Primarily because of the effectiveness of peaceful Sufi missionaries, most Indonesian kings embraced Islam voluntarily.
The Balinese, however, were not willing to convert. As Muslim armies gathered on the western tip of Java, only several miles from Bali, our guide told the story, most likely apocryphal, that spies spread the rumor that Balinese troops had dipped their spear points in pig fat.
For whatever reason, the invasion of Bali was called off, and today three million Hindus preserve their rich culture on this beautiful island.
From 2002 to 2005 there were three terrorist bombings, two on Bali, specifically targeted at popular tourist locations. A total of 234 people were killed, but the perpetrators were arrested and they will be executed in a few weeks.
In a 2006 poll only 10 percent of Indonesians supported the killing of civilians for the reason of protecting Islam. Polling the citizens of another moderate Muslim nation, University of Maryland researchers found that 79 percent of Moroccans said that killing civilians was never justified. What is interesting, and not a little shocking, is that in the same poll only 46 percent of Americans said "never" to the killing of civilians.
Since 1998, when Suharto was ousted in nation-wide protests, Indonesians have had regular elections, and they even elected their first female president in 2001. Significantly, she was Megawati Sukarnoputri, Sukarno`s daughter.
In the 2004 parliamentary elections, parties that identify themselves as Islamist got 35 percent of the vote while the secular parties received 47.6 percent, but in 200 regional elections since then not a single Islamist candidate has won a seat.
The largest Muslim organization in Indonesia with a membership of 70 million has recently redefined an Islamic state as one that is “just and prosperous,” not one that follows Sharia law. They have also have decided to support Sukarno’s liberal policy of religious tolerance, one that accepts the existence of all faiths.
In December, 1992, Hindu fundamentalists in India destroyed a mosque that they claimed was built on the birthplace of the Hindu God Rama. I would like to contrast that with my last night in Bali, when I heard the chanting, 400 hundred voices strong, of Rama’s monkey army crossing a causeway to Sri Lanka to help recapture Sita, Rama’s wife who had been kidnapped by a demon.
The divine name Rama now divides Indian Hindus and Muslims, but for centuries the stories of Rama have brought Indonesians together in traditional theater and dance across this moderate Muslim nation of 235 million.
Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read or hear his other columns at www.NickGier.com. Read about the destruction of the mosque in India at www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/ayodhya.htm. [End of article]
From the Quran:
Sura 8:12 :"Remember thy Lord inspired the angels with the message: 'I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: Smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips off them"
The Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Piper, could attest to this expression by the religion of peace if not but for his brutal murder by its adherents.
Regarding the peaceful nature of Islam as practiced in conjunction with Christianity in Indonesia there is this: http://www.leaderu.com/common/indonesia.html
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The growth of Christianity caused consternation among the Muslim community of Indonesia, which claims 85% of the population. As a result, Muslims adopted a systematic approach to stunt the growth of Christianity.
"Oppression started out as mental or psychological pressure on the Christian population and increased to formal strategies of opposing Christianity's growth," Maryono explained. "Within the last five years, the opposition and subsequent persecution has risen dramatically."
According to Pocock, 350 churches were burned in Indonesia in just the first five months of 1998. Maryono believes that number to be conservative. According to the U.S. State Department's 1998 Report on Human Rights, several instances of mob violence have occurred over the last few years in Indonesia; they have included attacks on churches, Christian schools, and other religious facilities.
LATEST ROUND OF RIOTS
The Chinese, who comprise approximately 3% of Indonesia's population and are mainly Christians, bore the brunt of the latest round of riots. Reports from various sources have likened the destruction of Chinese communities to that of Berlin and Rotterdam after World War II.
"The destruction of every shop, bank, restaurant, hotel, and place of business is very complete," writes missionary Bill Hekman with the Christian Leaders Association, "As the people loot and burn they shout 'Allahuakbar!' (God is Great). This is a racial and religious war of a one-sided attack by Moslems against Chinese who can do nothing to defend themselves."
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Then there are storie like the 4 Christian girls beheaded and the 1000's of other deaths from Muslim violence against Christians. See: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/novemberweb-only/23.0.html
The point being is that the fabric of propaganda is not only woven with carefully selected truths and half-truths but with the threads of those truths conveniently left out. The story of how Islam came to Indonesia palls into insignificance compared to how the "Sword" is used today against 'non-believers.'
Dear Mr. Moore,
Yes, I neglected to include militant Muslim attacks on Christians in Indonesian. To rectify that I've added the paragraph quoted below.
You may have noticed that I have included Hindu and Buddhist fundamentalists attacks on Christians in India and Sri Lanka in previous columns. You can check this out at http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/darksouls.htm and /slrvcol.htm.
When the governments of these nations start encouraging this violence, then I will start worrying.
I've added the following paragraph to the on-line version of this column on Indonesia.
"As they have in India, radical Muslims in Indonesia have also attacked Christians. An especially gruesome attack occurred on the island of Sulawesi, where three Christian girls were decapitated. Again the police reacted quickly and jailed ten Muslims who were responsible."
Meanwhile, we should watch our own home front. Just recently a mosque was burned down in Columbia, TN, and remember that a Sikh cab driver was pulled from his taxi and killed in California right after 9/11.
Generally, we should be very concerned about the 40 percent of Americans who essentially say that it would be OK to kill civilizians for national defense. Only 10 percent of Indonesians said that this was permissible.
Let's stay on track with Indonesia. You claim that it has a moderate Muslim future. I take great issue with your use of the word 'moderate.'
From the US Department of State:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90137.htm
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Abuses of Religious Freedom
During the reporting period there were reports of abuse of religious freedom across the country.
During the reporting period, as in past periods, the Government continued to explicitly and implicitly restrict the religious freedom of groups associated with forms of Islam viewed as outside the mainstream. Also during the reporting period, the Government arrested and charged individuals with heresy, blasphemy, and insulting Islam.
In May 2007, the Lebak District, West Java, Department of Religion reportedly encouraged the Muslim sect "Islam Sejati" to return to the fold of orthodox Islam. A few days later, on May 15, 2007, the Banten, West Java, chapter of the MUI issued a fatwa declaring the group deviant because members only prayed three times a day and did not face Mecca when they prayed.
During the reporting period, 187 members of the Ahmadiyya continued to live at a refugee camp in Mataram, Lombok. They have been living in the camp since attacks by local Muslims in February and March 2006 destroyed their homes and mosques. Representatives of Ahmadiyya in Lombok raised security concerns on July 24, 2006, with representatives of the Australian Consulate in Bali. They requested asylum from persecution by local Muslims. In May 2007, the West Nusa Tenggara Deputy Governor stated that the Ahmadiyya are permitted by law to seek asylum in another country.
Violence and actions against the Ahmadiyya community increased after the MUI issued a July 2005 fatwa that condemned the Ahmadiyya as a heretical sect. In 2005 a number of policies, laws, and official actions restricted the religious freedom of the Ahmadiyya community in other areas. Despite a heavy police presence during two attacks on an Ahmadiyya congregation in West Java in July 2005, police made no arrests. A local ban was subsequently passed against the Ahmadiyya in West Java, and they were prevented from using their religious complex. As of the end of the reporting period, no action had been taken against the perpetrators of the incidents. The Government continued to tolerate discrimination and abuse toward the Ahmadiyya by remaining silent on the 2005 MUI fatwa, the Ahmadiyya's legal status, and local bans.
Dozens of people in Pasuruan, East Java, raided two houses belonging to M. Thoyib and Rochamim on April 9, 2007, accusing them of practicing animism. Both men had previously practiced Islam, but had allegedly embraced animism and conducted animistic prayer ceremonies at cemeteries. Neighbors denounced them as heretics. Local police detained and questioned the two men about their religious activities. They were not arrested or charged; however, the two chose to stay in police custody for their own safety for two weeks before returning home.
In April 2007, Malang police arrested eight persons accused of disseminating a "prayer training" video produced by the College Student Service Organization in Batu, East Java. The video allegedly depicts 30 Christians being instructed by their leader to put Qur'ans on the floor at a December 2006 gathering. Following the initial arrests, an additional 33 persons were detained under blasphemy charges in connection with the videos. Christian church leaders denied allegations that Christians were involved in the production or distribution of the videos. At the end of the reporting period, the 41 persons detained were still awaiting trial.
On June 28, 2006, the Polewali, South Sulawesi state court sentenced Sumardi Tappaya, a Muslim high school religious teacher, to 6 months in prison for heresy after a relative accused him of whistling during prayers. The local MUI declared the whistling deviant. The teacher served his sentence.
On June 29, 2006, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Lia Eden, leader of the Jamaah Alamulla Group, to 2 years in prison for denigrating a religion. The MUI issued an edict in 1997 declaring Jamaah Alamulla deviant.
The press reported that in May 2006 the Banyuwangi, East Java regional legislature voted to oust Banyuwangi's Regent, Ratna Ani Lestari, from office. Those in favor of the ouster accused Ratna, a Muslim by birth, of blaspheming Islam by practicing a different religion from the one stated on her identity card. Ratna's supporters stated that she was the target of a religiously motivated smear campaign because of her marriage to a Hindu. Ratna remained in place because the courts ruled there was no quorum present when the legislature's vote was taken. The regional legislature appealed to the Supreme Court, which had yet to rule as of the end of the reporting period.
On April 12, 2006, police in Banyuwangi, East Java, arrested five Falun Dafa activists, two of them foreigners, for distributing circulars to local residents. Police later claimed they arrested the five because the circulars contained information about the Chinese Communist party and not because the activists were Falun Dafa members; distribution of Communist literature remains illegal. The five Falun Dafa activists were subsequently released and no charges were filed.
During 2006 the Aceh government caned at least 25 persons for consuming alcohol, 59 people for gambling, and 32 people for being alone with persons of the opposite sex who were not blood relatives.
The Indonesian Christian Communication Forum claimed that eight small, unlicensed churches in West Java were shut down during the reporting period by Muslim extremist groups despite a 2 year grace period contained in the revised regulation for houses of worship to obtain permits per the new requirements. In 2006 militant groups forcibly closed two churches without police intervention. Another 20 churches closed in 2006 under pressure from militant groups after the promulgation of the revised decree remain closed, according to the Forum. While often present, police rarely acted to prevent forced church closings and sometimes assisted militant groups in the closure. In early June 2006 the central Government announced its intentions to crack down on vigilantism by militant religious groups against places of worship as well as other targets. At the end of the reporting period, there were no specific reports of action.
In November 2005 local police arrested a foreigner and a citizen who were associated with a Christian working on a humanitarian dam building project on the island of Madura. Police acted after local religious leaders alleged that the two engaged in proselytizing. The allegations appeared to be sparked by jealousy on the part of leaders that their communities had not received similar projects. Prosecutors charged the citizen, who continued to publicly profess a nontraditional version of Islam, with denigrating a religion, and the court sentenced him to 2 ½ in prison. The foreigner was convicted of immigration violations, sentenced to 5 ½ months, and deported.
In October 2005 police in Central Sulawesi raided their neighborhood Madi sect after locals from other villages complained that sect followers were not fasting or performing ritual prayers during Ramadan. Three policemen and two sect members died in the clash. Sect members reportedly held two police officers hostage but later released them. Five Madi members were tried by local courts for causing the deaths of the police personnel; in January 2006 they were convicted and sentenced to between 9 and 12 years in prison.
In September 2005 an East Java court sentenced each of six drug and cancer treatment counselors at an East Java treatment center to 5 years in prison and an additional 3 years in prison for violating key precepts of Islam by using paranormal healing methods. A local MUI edict characterized their center's methods as heretical. Police arrested the counselors while they tried to defend themselves from hundreds of persons who raided the center's headquarters. The center was shut down and the six counselors began serving their sentences during the reporting period.
In August 2005, East Java's Malang District Court sentenced Muhammad Yusman Roy to 2 years imprisonment for reciting Muslim prayers in Indonesian, which MUI declared tarnished the purity of Arabic-based Islam. Roy was released from prison on November 9, 2006, after serving 18 months of his sentence.
In June 2005 police criminally charged a lecturer at the Muhammadiyah University in Palu for heresy. They held him for 5 days before placing him under house arrest after 2,000 persons protested against his opinion article, entitled "Islam, A Failed Religion." The article, among other things, highlighted the spread of corruption in the country. The lecturer was released from house arrest and subsequently fired by the University.
In September 2005 a court sentenced three women from the Christian Church of Camp David to 3 years imprisonment under the Child Protection Law for allegedly attempting to convert Muslim children to Christianity. The women claimed that family members gave permission for their children to attend Christian youth programs. The Supreme Court rejected the women's appeal in 2006. They served two years of their sentences and were released on parole on June 11, 2007.
Local Shari'a-influenced anti-prostitution ordinances exist throughout the country. This included Tangerang, West Java, where the city council passed a vaguely worded by-law on November 21, 2005, prohibiting anyone suspected of being a prostitute, based on his or her attitude or behavior, from being in public places. In 2006 Tangerang arrested and tried dozens of women as prostitutes, including a pregnant mother of two who was accused of being a prostitute because she purportedly had make-up in her purse. In April 2006 three of the women tried in Tangerang filed a request for judicial review of the by-law with the Supreme Court, but the court ruled on March 1, 2007 that the law was valid and not in conflict with higher laws.
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If moderation is measured only in the severity of punishment compared to other Muslim countries, then I disagree with your claim.
Dear Mr. Moore:
Considering the fact that Indonesia is a very large country with 235 million people, this list of infractions is quite small.
I would rather go with the Freedom House report of 2007. This is an organization that liberals have criticized, especially in the Cold War years, for rating authoritarian dictatorships that the U.S. supported more free than they should have been.
My contention of a moderate Indonesia is firmly supported by Freedom House, which ranks Indonesia and Mali as the only free Muslim countries in the world. I would disagree with them on at least two countries: Morocco and Turkey. Considering the large number of Muslim countries, this is quite an honor that Indonesia holds.
What is quite significant is that in the 200 regional elections held since 2006, not a single militant Muslim candidate has won, supporting the survey showing that only 10 percent of Indonesians support militant activities.
Significantly, it was not free at all when we supported the Suharto dictatorship.
From Freedom House 2007 Report
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Free
Overview
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s reform campaign proceeded in fits and starts, with a notable cabinet reshuffle in December 2005 and the passage of a number of reforms as well as the reversal of some gains in the face of considerable public opposition. Despite the appointment of a new, reformist military leader early in 2006, military-business ties and an entrenched tradition of impunity continued to inhibit much-needed military reform. Further progress was made toward securing peace in the northwestern province of Aceh, with the passage of an Aceh governance bill in July 2006 and the successful completion of the province’s first elections in December. A former rebel leader was elected governor in the peaceful balloting. Unrest in the eastern province of Papua persisted, however, and the arrival of dozens of Papuan asylum seekers on Australian shores in February complicated Indonesia’s relations with that country. The year also saw a worrisome rise in conservative Islamism, including a spate of religious attacks and the passage of illegal Sharia (Islamic law) ordinances in a number of districts. Democracy activists waged a widespread and largely successful campaign to promote the country’s secular ideology of Pancasila in response. Staggered, direct elections for regional leaders continued to be held across the country over the year.
One would think that you are deluded or likely funded by the Oil Rich Arabs to think Islam is a tolerant peaceful religion. In a typical Hindu bashing style you mention that "the Hindu Fundametalists destroyed ---" The so called Hindu fundamentalists is an Oxymoron. In fact the Shia's and Sunnis, who number in millions, live more peacefully in India compared to Pakistani and Iraqi sunnis and shias.
Just cross over to Malaysia and see the peaceful muslims destroying temples.
Remember the Bamian Buddha in Afghanistan? And another Buddha in Pakistan in 2007. Any idea how many temples were destroyed by the peaceful religion? In Kashi (Benares) you can see the Mosque built on the destroyed temple walls. Throughout India there are Mosques built on destroyed temples. And the catholics under the Portugese rule were not a peaceful lot either. They have their share of Churches built on temples. The Hindus killed by the Muslims during their conquest and rule is as bad as the Holocaust in number of people killed.