Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok: Thai People Familiar with Pancasila

PPIM.UINJKT.AC.ID – Education and Cultural Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, Prof. Mustari, said that Thai people had been familiar with Pancasila. 

The same thing happened in Cairo, Egypt, where its people recognized the Indonesia’s state ideology. When he was attending a lecture by Syekh Ali Gum’ah at the Al Azhar University, Mustari noted an interesting point that people in Cairo considered Indonesia as a very democratic Muslim country. Pancasila, he said, had become a role model for other Islamic countries.

“Indonesia has contributed a lot to the development of religious moderation, and the world has recognized that. One thing that is very popular [from Indonesia] is Pancasila, which is considered as a ‘meeting point’ of all religions, so that they can all exist together in the country”, Mustari said on Friday (4/9) in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Religious Moderation and Cultural Diplomacy”.

The seminar was organized by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta through Convey Indonesia program.

The Professor of UIN Alauddin Makassar elaborated how Thai people were also very tolerant and showed support to religious moderation. Thai King, for example, always attended Islamic events held by Muslim community as a form of respect toward the religious minority in Thailand.

Thailand Constitution stipulates that all religions are equal, and they are allowed to organize religious events in accordance with their faiths. All religions are recognized by the Kingdom of Thailand, while any extremist ideologies are prohibited.

That is actually no different with Indonesia’s Constitution. Mustari said that the concept of religious moderation was part of guarantees towards equality of all citizens in Indonesia. The Constitution, thus, reflected the sincerity of the state to guarantee equal treatments to all citizens. 

Mustari mentioned concrete evidence that the implementation of equality treatments was asserted in the preamble of the 1945 Constitution, the five principles of Pancasila, and articles 27 to 34 of the Constitution. So, constitutionally, religious moderation had been strongly regulated, yet the challenge was about how to mainstream the understanding, he added. 

The virtual seminar on Religious Moderation is held every Friday via “Convey Indonesia” and “PPIM UIN Jakarta” official Youtube channels. The discussion, moderated by Convey Indonesian Team Leader Jamhari Makruf, also presented other speakers, including Abdurrahman M. Fachir (Vice Minister of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry 2014-2019) and a number of Educational and Cultural Attaches from the Embassies of the Republic of Indonesia – Dr. Din Wahid (Indonesian Embassy from the Hague, Netherlands) and Dr. Lili Nurlaili (Indonesian Embassy in Manila, Philippines).

Writer: Syaifa Rodiyah
Editor: M. Nida Fadlan