Minister of Religion Launches #MeyakiniMenghargai Rewarding Hashtags with Millennials at the #MeyakiniMenghargai Festival

PPIM.UINJKT.AC.ID – A peaceful nation and state life are one of the supporting factors for the ongoing development process. Unfortunately, the peace that has been taking place in Indonesia so far is not without challenges. The threat of violent extremism has been identified and has the potential to threaten people’s lives.

Actions of intolerance and violent extremism committed by young groups based on issues of ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group are still a big task that must be resolved together. In the past decade, opinions on intolerance and the involvement of young people in acts of violent extremism are not surprising. A survey conducted by the Center for Islamic and Community Studies (PPIM) UIN Jakarta in 2017 on students and students showed that the younger generation had 58% radical opinions, 51.1% internal intolerance opinions, and 34.4% external intolerance opinions.

In an effort to encourage awareness and participation of the community in implementing the values ​​of #MeyakiniMengalu and public involvement in efforts to prevent violent extremism in Indonesia, CONVEY Indonesia is again holding the #MeyakiniMengharga Festival today at the Thamrin 9 Ballroom, Jakarta on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, after previously farms to Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Padang. The hashtag #MeyakiniMeng Reward is intended to remind people and invite people to believe in their respective faiths and respect diversity. The Minister of Religion also synergized together in guiding the launch of this hashtag by uploading tweets and posts on their respective Twitter and Instagram accounts, along with all millennial participants at the festival.

Religion and the younger generation are undoubtedly two major topics of discussion in the discourse of maintaining peace and preventing violent extremism in daily life, as a nation, and as a state. Exclusivism and extremism in religion make it difficult for a person to appreciate differences and diversity. it is added by the pattern of extreme understanding infiltration that spreads through various means and mediums, including mainly social media, the second world inhabited by millennial young generations. In this virtual space, the younger generation is not only the target of the infiltration of violent extremism but also the perpetrator or unconsciously contributing to the spread of violent extremism. Through posts and comments that are not wise, even though they seem trivial, and this can create potential disputes which in turn threaten peace and harmony.

General Manager of the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Indonesia, Shintya Rahmi Utami, emphasized that the #MeyakiniMengalu Festival was able to become an arena for young groups to be actively involved in building peace and preventing the dangers of violent extremism. Furthermore, Shintya Rahmi Utami revealed, “The Indonesian nation is built on various ethnicities, religions and other backgrounds, therefore there is no other choice but to work together to maintain peace in this country. Through this #MeyakiniMengreciating Festival, we hope that the millennial generation will be more active in participating in planting the seeds of peace and go down directly to the community in campaigning for the message of peace. “

The millennial group is one of the key actors in various peace-building efforts in Indonesia. Khaira Dhania, who has participated in the creative economy empowerment program with IMCC and CONVEY and participated in the IMMOVE youth congress, has a distinct impression in her experience of instilling the value of peace in everyday life. The Indonesia Millennial Movement Forum organized by the Maarif Institute with CONVEY, in which Dhania participated, has brought her together with young people from various ethnicities, religions, races to formulate joint peace efforts in the context of preventing violent extremism as well as concrete action plans that are able to reflect their beliefs and respect for the diversity that exists in Indonesia.

“At the Indonesia Millennial Movement (IMMOVE) forum, I not only made new friends but new” family “. Nothing is the same, all come from different religions, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds, but I feel a very strong tolerance between them. I learned many things, especially to be able to appreciate and respect the differences that exist, ”said Dhania explaining her experience.

Having previously been exposed to extremism, Dhania has chosen to actively participate in many positive activities that invite peace and harmony as well as optimism in contributing to building a peaceful Indonesia.

“Diversity is a destiny, therefore all elements of the nation need to play an active role in maintaining diversity while still respecting differences when believing in their respective beliefs. Through its two phases, CONVEY is a collaborative initiative with many institutions and communities in various parts of Indonesia to build awareness and encourage active community involvement in maintaining peace and maintaining harmony throughout the country, “said the CONVEY Indonesia Team Leader, Prof. Jamhari.

“The #MeyakiniMengharga Festival is CONVEY’s small effort to encourage people to realize that all forms of violence against those who are considered different cannot be justified. From the education and capacity building carried out, it is hoped that Peace Agents will be able to build, especially from young groups, who have high fighting power in promoting peace and preventing the dangers of violent extremism, “said Prof. Jamhari explained more deeply.

The #MeyakiniMengharga Festival is also designed to be a place for the dissemination of CONVEY’s work program in preventing violent extremism through a potential approach to Religious Education which has been carried out in collaboration between PPIM UIN Jakarta and UNDP Indonesia together with more than 20 partner institutions and a number of communities spread across Indonesia. Furthermore, this festival is also a space for expression for various local communities who are actively working on issues of peace and social change that encourage youth groups to actively participate in maintaining peace and preventing violent extremism in their neighborhood.

Various creative and educational activities were also carried out to celebrate the #MeyakiniMengharga Festival in Jakarta, such as talk shows with a number of experienced speaker panels, archipelago dance medley performances, community exhibitions and CONVEY partner institutions engaged in the issue of peace development and prevention of violent extremism, interactive quizzes, musical performances, traditional games zones and Board game for Peace with Peace Generation, as well as a number of other activities