Gusdurian National Network coordinator Alissa Wahid gives a speech on radicalism to youth in a seminar themed “Rejecting Intolerance, Fighting Radicalism and Disseminating the Survey Results of Internet-Social Media Mapping of the Perception of Youth on Radicalism and Extremism in Indonesia” in Surabaya, East Java, on Monday (16/1/2017). Of the 1,200 respondents in the survey, 88.2 percent said they did not agree with religious groups that use violence.
Anxiety is evident in the face of Alissa Wahid, a daughter of Indonesia’s fourth president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid. She said softly and slowly, but with great emphasis, “Let us together with communities do something to further strengthen diversity, take care of brotherhood and reinforce nationalism.” The afternoon conversation at Griya Gus Dur, Jakarta, last weekend was not only warm but also full of spirit.
Alissa, as the general coordinator of the Gusdurian Network, has not only called on the Gusdurian community groups, which are now spread across over 100 cities and regencies in Indonesia, but also on social groups that promote the spirit of nationalism. For her, civil society has to be the glue in the cracks in religiosity and diversity, which have been stained by political chaos.
All the members of the Gusdurian community group who are of various different ethnicities, ages and religions work voluntarily. The community groups are allowed to accept funds from the public in the form of donations or engage in cooperation with non-governmental organizations to fund their programs. However, community members are not allowed to enter practical politics, or take part in activities for political reasons while carrying the Gusdurian name.
The Gusdurian community group, which emerged a few months after Gus Dur passed away on December 30, 2009, has now spread to various regions. The Banyumas Gusdurian Community group, for example, on Saturday (20/5) held a Bangkitlah Indonesiaku (Rise Up My Indonesia) event to commemorate National Resurgence Day at the Purwokerto city square in Central Java. The event included a Goyang Maumere flash mob, a national song parade, a speech on nationalism and a cross-faith mass prayer.
The Gusdurian National Secretariat’s media manager, Heru Prasetia, spoke of the many activities carried out by the communities in the regions. “A few days ago, there was a discussion in Bojonegoro. On May 23, there will be a discussion on Pancasila in Kebumen. Last Wednesday, there was a hang-out with Bone Gusdurians at STAIN Watampone in South Sulawesi,” he said, citing information from Instagram.
Gusdurian focuses on community empowerment, the strengthening of civil society, the dissemination of Gus Dur’s ideas, the production of social leaders through capacity building programs and advocacy on strategic issues.
Refusal becoming fragmented
The effort to build a spirit of unity amid diversity is also displayed by a number of other youth community groups through various ways.
In one of the corners of Antologi Café in Yogyakarta in May, for example, some youths sitting with two plates of bread, a box of bakpia and glasses of coffee were seen joking around a wooden table. On the table were lots of books piled up. They were members of the Jogja Book-Reading Club.
That afternoon, they read the book Hari-Hari Terakhir Bersama Soeharto (Last Days with Soeharto), authored by Emha Ainun Nadjib. Karin, 20, read out one chapter entitled “Indonesia the Strongest Nation”, which promotes optimism so that the people of Indonesia would work toward unity without discrimination, in order to spearhead change. The struggle to build a nation is a long journey. “Believe me, even if Pak Harto was replaced 300 times, the condition will still be as it is now, if we do not want to change our attitude and mentality,” Karin read.
The members of the Jogja Book-Reading Club are of different ethnicities and religions. However, the differences are not obstacles for them to share their love for books. “What is important is that we all like to read,” said Sholahudin Nurazmy, founder of the Jogja Book-Reading Club community, before stressing their slogan: “Just read.”
They regularly meet up every month. The genres of the books they read vary from fiction, non-fiction and romance to essays and social criticism. The reading habit indirectly challenges conservatism and widens their horizons.
The Jogja Book-Reading Club has branches in a number of places, such as the Student Reading Club at the Islamic boarding school Pesantren Nurul Ummahat, Kotagede, Yogyakarta. Last year, the students of the Islamic boarding school, which is taken care of by KH Abdul Muhaimin, held a book-reading event together with Catholic girls from the Syantikara student boarding house in Yogyakarta. The book they read and discussed was What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. The youths from two boarding houses of two different faiths are very friendly with one another. In fact, students from the Syantikara boarding house stayed two nights at the Nurul Ummahat Islamic boarding school.
“It was the first time for all of them to be in a pesantren (Islamic boarding school), so there were many questions. After they stayed in our pesantren, they felt peace,” said Student Reading Club founder Minhatul Maula.
The call to diversity is also echoed in Salatiga. The seed of diversity was sown in the shade of the lush trees and cool breezes of the village where the Love of Humanity Seedbed Foundation (Persik) is based. The foundation, established by Pradjarta Dirdjosantoso 15 years ago, regularly carries out various inter-faith activities in a number of villages in Central Java, such as an inter-faith live-in program for youths. In the live-in program, participants live in the houses of locals who are of different religions. They would witness the religious ceremonies of a different faith. “What is important is that the message of diversity is conveyed,” said Percik researcher Ambar Istiani.
The key to tolerance is common experience. “If they never meet, each only with their own group, then there will be suspicions of one another because it will only be based on jarane jarane (hearsay). That is dangerous,” Pradjarta said.
