Muhammad Khoirul Muqtafa (Indonesian Institute of Sciences) muhammad.muqtafa@uqconnect.edu.au
Recently, violence conflicts colored with the issue of religion occur quite often in Indonesia, particularly between groups within religious communities due to different interpretation and understanding of the sacred texts. Within these cases of violence, religious minority groups are often discriminated against and being the subject of attack, particularly, by those who claim themselves as the majority group. For this group, the minority one has been acted religious blasphemy, thus in need to be warned and disciplined, very often, by violent actions. These actions have not only challenged the state authority but also the idea of citizenship. The “majority group” often give an option to the minority one to choose one among two choices: “return to the true religion (read: Islam)” or “declare a new religion”. While this option might bring the notion how religious membership undermines the (nation-state) citizenship, it also implies their conception of citizenship which is quite close to the Islamic version of citizenship. The islamization of citizenship will likely cause problems and challenges for Indonesian people as can be seen from Ahmadiyya and Shi’i cases. This paper will discuss more on this issue by examining the concept of citizenship developed in Indonesia, the challenge(s) posed, particularly, by the hard-liner group and its implication to the construction of citizens-state relationship in the future.
Available from: http://projectsoutheastasia.com/academic-events/sea-symposium-2013/panels/panel-20
Recently, violence conflicts colored with the issue of religion occur quite often in Indonesia, particularly between groups within religious communities due to different interpretation and understanding of the sacred texts. Within these cases of violence, religious minority groups are often discriminated against and being the subject of attack, particularly, by those who claim themselves as the majority group. For this group, the minority one has been acted religious blasphemy, thus in need to be warned and disciplined, very often, by violent actions. These actions have not only challenged the state authority but also the idea of citizenship. The “majority group” often give an option to the minority one to choose one among two choices: “return to the true religion (read: Islam)” or “declare a new religion”. While this option might bring the notion how religious membership undermines the (nation-state) citizenship, it also implies their conception of citizenship which is quite close to the Islamic version of citizenship. The islamization of citizenship will likely cause problems and challenges for Indonesian people as can be seen from Ahmadiyya and Shi’i cases. This paper will discuss more on this issue by examining the concept of citizenship developed in Indonesia, the challenge(s) posed, particularly, by the hard-liner group and its implication to the construction of citizens-state relationship in the future.
Available from: http://projectsoutheastasia.com/academic-events/sea-symposium-2013/panels/panel-20
