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Government Policy and National Integration in

Leo Suryadinata Department of Political Science, National University of Sirtgapore

Introduction °

Indonesia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state. There are a few dozen ethnic groups speaking between 250 and 300 Indonesian dialects.' Indonesia has a population of approximately 162 million, of which, the largest ethnic group is the Javanese (about 47% - 50%).% They are the dominating force in Indonesian bureaucracy, military and politics. The former president of Indonesia Sukarno and the present president of Indonesia Suharto are Javanese. Approximately 75 per cent of the decision making positions in the Indonesian military are in the hands of the Javanese.' The homeland of the Javanese is in Central and East . Sundanese also are found in Java (West Java) but only form 14.5 per cent of the whole population. Islands outside Java, often called the Outer Islands, are inhabited by ethnic minorities such as the Makassarese-Buginese (3.68%), Batak (2.4%), Balinese (1.88%), Achenese (1.4%) and others. They have specific areas with which they can be identified. Ethnic Chinese constitute 2.8 per cent of the Indonesia's population but are scattered all over the Indonesian archipelago.' Their majority live in urban areas. It should also be pointed out that Indonesia is an agrarian society. About 80 per cent of the population live in rural areas. Only about 20 per cent are urban dwellers.5 It is important to note that the island of Java, which constitute 7 per cent. of Indonesia's territory, has 65 per cent of its population. Java has been regarded as the consumer of most of the Indonesian revenues while the Outer Islands are the producers. Understandably, Indonesian politics is often related to two issues: Javanese domination and the uneven distribution of revenues between Java and the Outer Islands. It is also obvious that Java is the center of Indonesia's political activities. However, there is another issue in Indonesian politics: the religious dimension which is linked to ethnicity. Indonesia has five "officially recognized" religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hindu- () and Buddhism, of which Islam has the largest following.6 It is said 112 that approximately 90 per cent of the Indonesian population are Muslim. Nonetheless, Indonesian Muslims can be divided into the abangan (or Kejawen or Agarna,Jawa) and santra streams.' The former group is syncretic in its belief and is often termed "nominal Muslim". Their strong Hindu and Javanese elements often differentiate them from those who are more Islamic in their religious belief and practices. The abangan believe in Allah, but they also worship Hindu Gods/Goddesses such as Batara Kala (the god of death and time) and (goddess of rice). They also believe in spirits and magic power, for instance, that in the Banyan tree there live spirits, while the kert;s (dagger) and gamelan (Javanese musical instrument) often posses supernatural powers. The abangan also perform selamatan, a kind of feast ritual involving offerings to the spirits and supernatural in order to achieve. a state of "calmness" and safety. Their frame of reference is the family, not the umat (Islamic community) which is the frame of reference of santri.e The santri are usually very rigid in terms of their beliefs, reject the pre-Islamic elements in Javanese society and desire to "purify" Javanese religion in order to fit their owr vision. Although the abangan and santri categories were originally applied to the Javanese, they can now be used to differentiate the Indonesian population in general: those who are nominal and those who are rigid Muslims. The existence of these abangan and santri cultures is the result of uneven penetration of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago. People who live in the coastal areas tend to be more Islamic while those in the interior tend to be more "indigenous". Santri also tend to engage in trading/commercial activities - while abangan and pnyayi (official class) are more interested in bureaucracy. The number of abangan appears to be much larger than santri and it is also well-known that most Indonesian generals are of abangan belief and less sympathetic to the santri's aspirations. The a bangan and santri outlooks are also reflected in their perception of the nature of the Indonesian state. While abangan tend to favour a secular state, santri have a tendency to favour the creation of an Islamic state - or at 9 least a state in which Islam plays a dominant role.' In addition to this abangan and santri division, Muslims in Indonesia are also divided along modern and traditional lines. Apart from Muslims, there are many Catholic Javanese and Manadonese, Protestant Bataks and Ambonese, and Hindu Balinese. Despite their minority status, the followers of these "minority religions" are often quite influential in Indonesia's society.'o These multi-ethnic and religious groups were brought together by the Dutch under the Dutch East Indies. Their colonial experiences brought them together in the nationalist movement which aimed at eradicating colonial rule and establishing a new nation-state along the ex-colonial boundaries. In other words, Indonesia was not a nation prior to independence, or even if the nationalist feeling existed, it was not strong. The nation-building period, i.e.