BANDUNG – Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) held a National Seminar entitled “Campus as a Miniature of Indonesian Diversity” at Sabuga ITB, Monday (8/26/2019). The seminar was held in collaboration between ITB and the Muhammadiyah University of Jakarta (UMJ).
ITB Director of Education, Dr. Yuli Setyo Indartono said, the purpose of the seminar was to address the emergence of various national issues related to movements that could disrupt national stability, especially in the context of spreading ideologies that were considered to be in conflict with Pancasila. “This condition is considered by various parties to be able to erode the values of the unity and integrity of the Indonesian nation which is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and tolerant of differences,” he said.
Dr. Yuli continued, the main core of this seminar was to strengthen the commitment of all elements of the nation, especially the civitas academica to always make Pancasila the basis of a shared life because it contained values that taught the ways of living together, multiculturalism, unity, democracy, and social justice.
Besides that, Dr. Yuli added that this activity was also held in the context of following Presidential Instruction No.7 Year 2018 concerning the National Defense Plan for the Year 2018-2019, one of which mandated the need to civilize the values of Pancasila which were carried out across sectors, tiered, structured, systematic and massive. through the penta-helix approach. Therefore, universities have a big role in the dissemination and internalization of the values of Pancasila.
On this occasion, the material on State Defending Action was delivered by the Deputy for Politics and Strategy of the Indonesian National Planning Board, Inspector General of Police Drs. Sukma Edi Mulyono, M.H. In his presentation, Inspector General of Police Sukma Edi Mulyono said that the diversity in Indonesia should be well maintained by all generations of the nation. “Diversity of threats requires diversity of solutions, diversity of solutions requires diversity of thought, diversity of thought can only be present from the diversity of humans, especially humans who are knowledgeable. This is the wealth of the Indonesian people we must protect, “said Edi.
In addition, there was also Miftahul Ulum, UMJ Lecturer as a speaker who presented the research results of the UMJ FISIP Team with the title “Strengthening Higher Education Authority in Building Campus Resilience against the Dangers of Radicalism and Violent Extremism.”
The research resulted in a number of findings, including; (1) support for the Unitary Republic of Indonesia and democracy is strong enough among students, (2) most students support the existence of Pancasila and democracy in the Unitary Republic of Indonesia system, (3) according to Pancasila students do not conflict with Islamic law, and (4) students assume that the coexistence of different communities must be respected.
“The method we use is in the form of surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions conducted from December 2018 to March 2019, in three provinces namely DKI Jakarta, Banten and West Java, with 382 Muslim respondents and 50 non-Muslim respondents. , “Explained Miftahul Ulum.
Furthermore, other findings from the UMJ study were 85% of students rejecting acts of violence in the name of religion and 81% of students rejecting the view of terrorism in the name of religion as shaheed or jihad. Based on these results, UMJ researchers concluded that the campus community was very resistant to exposure to radicalism and intolerance.
He continued, students must also have a number of traits including being optimistic, always putting forward positive narration, always providing solutions (solution maker), always actively participating in local affairs (locally engaged), always prioritizing interests national (nationally grounded), always connected with global life (globally connected).
The next material was delivered by ITB Lecturer, Dr. Epin Saepudin, M.Pd., with the topic “Building a Citizenship Culture in Higher Education.” He said that the campus was a miniature of Indonesia because it was filled by individuals from various socio-cultural, religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds that represented the diversity of the Indonesian nation. “Therefore, it is necessary to build a culture of citizenship in universities. Cultivating the value of pluralism must be carried out systematically, comprehensively, and integrated through curricular, co-curricular, extracurricular, campus culture, and dormitory programs, “he added.
According to him, this task is not only the responsibility of one party, but it is the collective responsibility of the entire academic community in higher education. Therefore, synergy, collaboration, and joint commitment are needed to jointly carry out this noble task.
