Tough and Leniency of the Existence of Hindu
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International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Vol. 24, Issue 08, 2020 ISSN: 1475-7192 Tough and Leniency of the Existence of Hindu Alukta in Tana Toraja South Sulawesi Indonesia 1 2 3 Nyoman Yoga Segara, Nyoman Alit Putrawan, Ketut Gunarta, 4Made Adi Brahman Abstract--This article is the result of the development of research on the history, existence, activities, and dynamics of the Alukta Hindus in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. The key issue to be explained is that although the Hindu Alukta followers have integrated with Hinduism, they still get the stigma and stereotype as animism and not religion. Structurally, they do not get the most attention from the government to be fostered through functional staff, such as instructors and teachers, while culturally, their knowledge of Hinduism also does not get the maximum understanding so that it is dominated by the implementation of local customs only. Based on this problem, theoretically, it is necessary to study the authority of the state which seems to have the authority to define local beliefs and official religion. In practice, this problem also has implications for regulations that should be comprehensive by providing guidance and services not only to “local religion” but also a community that chooses official religion as a “new religion”. Key words-- History, Hindu Alukta, Tana Toraja, Local Belief. I. INTRODUCTION Indonesia is a very diverse country, such as the diversity of races, religions, ethnicities, languages, etc. Among the diversity, there are more than hundreds of local beliefs that are still alive in addition to religion that has been officially recognized and mainstream, namely Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Research reports from the Center for Religious Life [1], Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Religion explain that the number of adherents of local beliefs is quite large and spread throughout Indonesia. Interestingly, one of the conclusions of the research is that they did not get maximum service from the state, especially services in the civil registration and population administration, such as birth certificates, marriages, and deaths, and did not yet get recognition of their beliefs. In essence, they want equality with the official religion [2]. Based on this phenomenon [3], some local belief adherents submitted a judicial review to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia [4]. Based on a comprehensive study, finally came the Constitutional Court Decree Number 97/PUU-XIV/2016, one of which included them as “Local Indigenous Believer”. With the recognition of this 1Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Email : [email protected] 2Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Email : [email protected] 3Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Email : [email protected] 4Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Email : [email protected] DOI: 10.37200/IJPR/V24I8/PR280294 Received: 21 Jan 2020 | Revised: 08 Feb 2020 | Accepted: 14 Mar 2020 2748 International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Vol. 24, Issue 08, 2020 ISSN: 1475-7192 country, adherents of local beliefs are legally recognized for their existence in Indonesia and receive the same services as other official religions, including writing the name of their belief in the Identity Card column [5] [6]. But long before the Constitutional Court’s decision, some local beliefs were previously not recognized then because they wanted to get state recognition or were asked to join one of the official religions, eventually, they had to choose one of the existing religions. One of the many local beliefs that underwent the process was Aluk Todolo which is located in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, which has existed since the existence of Tana Toraja, and now exists in almost all of South Sulawesi Province and even in Central Sulawesi. Even Toraja is one of the largest tribes in South Sulawesi besides Bugis, Makassar, and Mandar [7]. The key issue is that when several important figures of Aluk Todolo claimed to integrate with Hinduism, they continue to accept the stigma of animism and are even called no religion [8]. This article will explain the position of Hindu Alukta [9] which previously departed from the local belief of Aluk Todolo when it has chosen Hinduism as the official religion still gets stigma, both internally by Aluk Todolo [10] [11] [12], and followers of Aluk Todolo who have chosen Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam as its official religion. Another explanation is how they must make peace with stigma and how the role of the state in providing guidance both structurally and culturally. These three explanations are important to answer the allegation that there has been neglect of their existence now. II.RESULT AND DISCUSSION Hindu Alukta: between local belief and official religion The terms “official religion” and “local Indigenous religion” or “local belief” or “local religion” are still a tough discussion, but with the Constitutional Court Decree as above, adherents of local beliefs can at least survive by adhering to what they believe. No less important are their existence and identity recognized by the state. This recognition is important because that the interpretation of religion and belief in article 18 of the ICCPR is not only limited to traditional religions (major religions) but also beliefs that resemble traditional religions (local religions), even including people's beliefs, not to god (atheistic), agnosticism, non-god (non-theistic) freedom of thought and rationalism. As a result, these groups are vulnerable to discrimination to conversion. The problem is that local belief is often only equated with local wisdom, even though the two terms are not always the same. Even though local wisdom contains many meanings. Quaritch Wales states that local wisdom is “common characteristics which are being had by the majority of community members as a result of their past experiences”. All of these characters can change and/or adapt themselves especially to the dominant culture or civilization that comes later. Formulate local wisdom as “local cultural values and knowledge that are wisely operationalized to regulate the social life of a community”. Another opinion was expressed by Ellen, who explained that local wisdom as indigenous knowledge that refers to treatment and medicine in a particular cultural environment with several characteristics. If referring again before obtaining recognition from the state through the Constitutional Court Decree, religion and/or local wisdom cannot be autonomous so that they are vulnerable to political intervention or conversion. DOI: 10.37200/IJPR/V24I8/PR280294 Received: 21 Jan 2020 | Revised: 08 Feb 2020 | Accepted: 14 Mar 2020 2749 International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Vol. 24, Issue 08, 2020 ISSN: 1475-7192 To cite some of the same cases in Indonesia, the fate of the Hindu Alukta tribe is also experienced by the Tolotang tribe, the wetu telu community in Lombok or Hindu Kaharingan [13]. The intense debate between the two major currents between local beliefs and official religions can be resolved by the awareness of the adherents themselves. For example, after the Constitutional Court Ruling 97/2016, some adherents of local beliefs consciously volunteered to become trustees. Likewise, before the Constitutional Court Decree, some of them also consciously did it, including Aluk Todolo who integrated with Hinduism and then called himself Hindu Alukta. Other followers of Aluk Todolo [14] [15] also do its integration with Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. These four religions inhabit Tana Toraja. The voice of an insider who understands his social world is important to be heard. One of them is Hendra Rantetao, a key informant of this research stating that the belief in Aluk Todolo to become the Hindu religion of Alukta is also final, without a doubt even being recognized by the state through the Decree of the Director-General. “But if there are followers of Aluk Todolo who want to convert to a religion or become local belief followers, please each of us, do not those of us who have religions officially asked to follow the seduction,” he said. Hendra’s rage is understandable because after the Constitutional Court's decision there was a kind of euphoria that religious adherents based on the belief would return to their initial belief. It turns out that a phenomenon called Hendra is also afflicting Christians, Catholics, and Muslims who previously adhered to the local beliefs of Aluk Todolo [16] [17]. This also makes the Aluk Todolo people start to worry because on the one hand they have adopted an official religion that is legally recognized by the state, but they still practice the customs of Aluk Todolo. Some customs are forced to reduce or even eliminate them because the official religion that is embraced, is now starting to feel inappropriate. Hendra suspects that their bodies are officially religious, but their conscience is Aluk Todolo. Another uncertainty is that if they return to the local beliefs of Aluk Todolo, they will not necessarily receive the same service and recognition from the state. History and Existence of Hindu Alukta Now The key informant, Hendra stated that the traditional leaders of Aluk Todolo in Tana Toraja gathered and negotiated. Several times they were called to Ujung Pandang, the capital of South