By: Muhammad Firmansyah *
Three words one meaning. “Unity in Diversity”, is different but still one. Like coffee and milk, this sentence really fits diversity in Indonesia. 1,340 tribes, 546 languages, 6 religions, 1 nation. Of course this spirit of unity is the basis of the birth of our country, right?
This plurality forms its own uniqueness for our country. Thousands of these tribes also gave birth to diverse cultures and arts. Often this is the reason for the admiration of other nations. Like a rainbow that has a variety of colors. Beautiful. That’s how it should be.
However, as time went on, this union seemed to be torn apart. Now, racial and religious hatred is like oil being struck by sparks. In the name of freedom, unity began to be ruled out. This has become an irony, considering that only 74 years ago this nation had pledged in one unit. Plus the pledge came after passing more than 300 years of colonialism.
Now-Age Unity Musician
The perpetrators of the national unity era now, sadly not from outside this country. The musician, no other, is the utterance of hatred like a hoax. Now the spread of hoaxes that are increasingly unstoppable, rampant, and merciless can trigger conflict in society, which can lead to primordial sentiments, strengthen radicalism. The hoax, we know, is spread by its supporters [more actively is the buzzer] to bring sympathy, anger, and request support from the public for an ongoing political or humanitarian event.
These musicians are increasingly becoming increasingly popular with social media stimulation. One click, a hoax can instantly ignite thousands of masses in seconds. BOOM! Deadly. It could be that one day Indonesia will be re-colonized due to unrest that is not maintained
Hoaxes spread by power hunters will continue to work, metamorphose, evolve. It is like a virus, infecting anyone who is no longer healthy. The hoax to pursue ‘power’ composes the wrong assumptions in the head of the person infected, making them believe and support it [in the universe of social media these people are called buzzers].
People who believe in hoaxes can act brutally and savage, causing humanitarian disasters. Therefore, the re-fertilization of a sense of unity and tolerance also needs to be done by reminding the historical period of the struggle for Indonesian independence. However, the return of a sense of unity is also not enough to strengthen the unity of a unique country like Indonesia. Planting a mindset and familiarizing the words of obligatory goodness are also important points in this complete package of literacy.
All Indonesian people should carry out a joint resolution in changing the trend of this hoax. This political year is no longer the era of spreading the utterances of hatred and hoax, but utterances of kindness. Come on, leave hatred, leave a hoax, spread the goodness! For the sake of unity.
- Alumni Univ. West Sumatra Andalas