'Hinduism' in Modern Indonesia
As a supplement to Nico Kaptein's report, the following article presents some conclusions from and responses to the International Seminar on Hinduism in Modern Indonesia which was convened on the 16th and 17th September, 1999, at the IIAS in Leiden with the additional financial support from the NWO ('Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek' or Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research).
By MARTIN RAMSTEDT
The purpose of the seminar was to elucidate the conceptual as well as actual tension between local tradition (adat) and global religion ('agama') in the modern Indonesian nation state by focusing on the development of modern 'Indonesian Hinduism' in various parts of the archipelago.The international convention of seventeen scholars working on the topic of religion and the nation state in the context of present-day South and Southeast Asia was considered timely for the following reasons:
1. It was the first conference which concerned itself solely with the development of modern Indonesian Hinduism (Hindu Dharma Indonesia);
2. It addressed the precarious situation of Indonesian Hindus at a time of increasing Islamization and Christianization after the fall of Soeharto's 'new order' regime;
3. It raised awareness of the possible link between Hindu activism in present-day Indonesia and India.
Major conclusions of the seminar can be summed up as follows:
1. Conversion to Hinduism by non-Balinese Indonesians during the last four decades can generally be viewed as an attempt to circumvent state prescribed conversion to the 'new order' version of modernity;
2. Lack of funding, inadequate administrative penetration, as well as bureaucratisation of 'religion' has impeded the official representatives of Indonesian Hinduism to successfully promote Hinduism as an attractive alternative to the 'modern' religions Christianity and Islam outside of Bali;
3. Both the religious practice, which is predominantly based on adat, and the socio-cultural background of the majority of the Hindu community, who belongs to the educationally and economically marginalized rural population, has fostered Islamic and Christian prejudice against Hinduism as being primitive, polytheistic, animistic superstition. This in turn has given rise to the rather precarious situation of Hindus in present-day Indonesia;
4. Its modest success notwithstanding, official Indonesian Hinduism has tried to gradually transform adat into agama;
5. The negative image of Hinduism reflects to a certain extent the negative image of local tradition (adat) in modern Indonesia. However, it has received a boost by 'cultural tourism'. Hence, a folklorized version of local tradition called budaya has been acknowledged as valuable cultural capital by the Indonesian government;
6. Indonesian Hindus belonging to the affluent, urbanized middle-class and mostly living in Bali or in Javanese cities have turned to India for intellectual and spiritual support. Hence, various new Indian Hindu sects have gained ground in Bali and Java where they have contributed to the increasing heterogeneity of Indonesian Hinduism, simultaneously weakening local tradition in favour of a globalized form of religion.
The seminar received valuable feedback from colleagues, journalists, and Hindus in the Netherlands, Indonesia, and India. A journalist of the Indonesian newspaper Bali Post (issue of 27th September, 1999) enthusiastically linked the major conclusions of the seminar with the struggle of Indonesian Hindus under the present socio-political conditions. A similar enthusiasm was expressed by Indian Hindus. The forthcoming publication of the seminar proceedings, which will be published jointly by Curzon Press and the IIAS under the title 'Religion and the Nation State: Hinduism in Modern Indonesia', will, therefore, have to take into account the range of responses it might stimulate or provoke, taking a clear stance for religious tolerance and pluralism. *
Dr Martin Ramstedt is an ESF / Alliance fellow and is stationed at the IIAS in Leiden.
E-mail: mramstedt@let.leidenuniv.nl