“To combat extremism, radicalism and terrorism with Pancasila”, hailed president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo in his speech released in conjunction with the country’s 72nd independence anniversary celebration.
Indonesia has made global headlines on many occasions due to vicious terrorist attacks and the radical Islamic movements are not a new phenomenon in Indonesia - with added fear that the moderate Islam is spiralling downwards. Indonesians must unite to meet the threat of extremism and safeguard their constitution that treasures religious freedom and diversity.
In his presidential speech, Widodo said “We need to work closely not in just economic equality, but also in terms of ideological, political, social, and cultural developments. In the realm of ideology, we must continue to strengthen our national consensus to preserve Pancasila, the 1945 constitution, the unitary state of Indonesia, and the state motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika".”
Pancasila is the fundamental philosophy of Indonesia under the 1945 Constitution – which consist of two Sanskrit words “panca” which refers to five and “sila” which refers to principles. The Pancasila comprises of five inter-related principles, which are as follows:
The fundamental philosophies of Pancasila.
The president believes that the sacred values of Pancasila will address the inequality in Indonesia and tackle the threat of terrorism, extremism and radicalism. The Presidential Working Unit for Fostering of the State Ideology of Pancasila (UKP-PIP) is authorised to indoctrinate the Pancasila ideology into all Indonesians, especially the youth.
Despite the various economic and political achievements that Indonesia has achieved and reflected on in these 72 long years of independence – Widodo cautioned the tough challenges ahead for Indonesia. “We still have poverty and injustice, we are also confronted with global economic uncertainty, extremism, radicalism and terrorism, human trafficking, drugs-related crime, weapons smuggling, and cybercrime.” The Pancasila, first propagated by former president Sukarno, will be the national principle and the ideology for the nation and people in striving through these modern day challenges.