Jokowi Says Growing Radicalism Threatens Pancasila
Jakarta. Rapidly advancing communications technologies are threatening Indonesia's official state ideology of Pancasila, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said in his annual state of the nation address at the House of Representatives on Friday.
"The ease of communication and interaction also bring threats; threats to our ideology – Pancasila – to our culture of politeness; to our tradition and culture, as well as the local wisdom of our nation," Jokowi said, adding that while such technological advancements bring benefits, they also contribute to rising intolerance, radicalism and terrorism.
However, the president said that although cyberthreats require a quick response, Indonesia is not afraid of greater openness.
"We must face openness with awareness; awareness of ideologies that threaten our national ideology; awareness of everything that may threaten our sovereignty," he said.
Jokowi, who will commence the second term of his presidency on Oct. 20, also issued a stern warning to public servants and members of the military and police that he would not tolerate anyone who betrays the five principles of Pancasila.
"We will not compromise with members of the state apparatus who reject Pancasila," he said.
Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu previously revealed that about 3 percent of the country's military may have been radicalized on religious grounds, according to a report by CNN Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius, head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), said in March that about 2 million employees of state-owned enterprises may become radicalized if the heads of the various institutions fail to take firm preventive action.
A video on the official Indonesian Military (TNI) Instagram account, which had since gone viral, shows TNI commander Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto interviewing a cadet named Enzo, born of a French father and Indonesian mother. Netizens looking into the young man's background discovered that he and his mother support the establishment of an Islamic state or caliphate in Indonesia.
The TNI has promised to investigate the matter and Ryamizard has stressed that any personnel supporting radicalism and terrorism would be fired.
Megawati Sukarnoputri, chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which Jokowi is a member, unequivocally stated the party's opposition to a caliphate during its national congress in Bali on Aug. 12.
The former president said any political movement that seeks to implement a caliphate to replace Pancasila poses a grave threat to Indonesia.
Tags: Keywords: