By: Rika Prasatya *
Indonesia is a country that has many diversity, ethnicity, language, religion and other spiritual beliefs. Diversity and practice of tolerance can certainly be seen in several places, especially on religious holidays. Like in Bali, when Nyepi Day. Religious tolerance in Bali is quite high. This can be seen from the traditional village of Tuban in Badung Regency, Bali.
A number of non-Hindus in this village participated in maintaining silence and peace at Nyepi. Starting from being a pecalang alias customary police, to echoing the call to prayer without loudspeakers.
“We have maintained this tolerance for a long time, most of the residents in the traditional village of Tuban are non-Hindus with a ratio of 1: 4, with a population of 18 thousand and an area of 3000. We want to show this tolerance to all parties. In Bali, there is a high tolerance, “said Bendesa, a traditional Tuban, I Wayan Mendra.
The Muslims also echoed the call without loudspeakers, and also a number of pecalang, including Christian Pecalang, Agus Andarjanus went around watching the security around the mosque on Jalan Raya Tuban at 7:00 p.m. Only with a low-light flashlight, pecalang travels around the area. When you arrive at the mosque, it appears that a number of Muslims are praying. After the prayer, the pecalang were welcomed by two mosque officials. Then, they seemed to have a discussion. Shortly after, Pecalang left the location.
“Basically, we give that the state guarantees worship in accordance with its beliefs, according to article 29 paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution. They give great tolerance so we are also obliged to give tolerance,” Mendra said.
Meanwhile, from 135 pecalang who maintain security in the Traditional Village of Tuban, there are 4 non-Hindu pecalang. They are Agus Andarjanus who is a Christian, I Wayan Toyib, Triono, and Haji Sidik who are Muslim.
“The security problem of the Nyepi period is not only our problem, but the security problem of all residents of Tuban Customary Village,” Mendra explained about the pecalang.
These non-Hindu Pecalang are actually recruited from the Community Protection (Linmas) team who have been serving long enough, have been married and are considered capable of being mature. In the same place, Toyib recounts being a pecalang since 1999. He is the first generation of non-Hindu pecalang. Toyib claimed to be sincere on guard at Nyepi. Because, this man from Bugis, Makassar, has loved Bali and all things related to Bali. Moreover, he had indeed been born in Bali since birth.
“God is one, why is it noisy, my religion is my religion, your religion is your religion. My grandmother is Hindu, married to a Muslim and then converted. Born father, take the wife of a Hindu, convert again. Yes it is like inevitable. Islamic families must have relatives in Hinduism, and vice versa, “said Toyib.
Conversely, the Balinese do not mind the presence of beef in the markets, or in restaurants, so far. So, in the context of sacrifice, this is not a new and prevalent context. Cows are sacred animals of Hindus, but cow sacrifices during Eid al-Adha have never been a problem in Bali. Muslims share sacrifices with Hindus and Hindus join in becoming panaitanya.
Not only that, every sacrificial committee in Denpasar has its own policy in distributing sacrificial meat. In fact, several groups of organizers distributed sacrificial meat to disadvantaged citizens without seeing the difference in beliefs. In distributing (sacrificial meat) including brothers and sisters of other faiths, it is also usually distributed. In several places, there were other religious people joining in the division as committee members.
Eid al-Adha felt by Mustafa as the committee as a special celebration, because it was held with a stronger spirit of togetherness. This is because a number of Muslim communities in Denpasar always invite their neighbors regardless of their religion to eat Eid al-Adha together.
On the other hand, activities around Ramadan are still lined up. The adherents of Islam in Bali amount to 520 thousand, while Hindus reach 3.2 million from a total of 3.9 million Balinese. Some Muslim villages can now be found on the Island of the Gods. The Directorate General of Guidance for Islamic Communities, Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Religion, last year recounted their journey to the pockets of Muslim citizens in Bali.
For example Loloan Village, Jembrana. The village is about 90 kilometers from Denpasar City, most of the population work as traders and fishermen. Not surprisingly, the population of this area originated from the arrival of a number of Bugis troops about four centuries ago.
Loloan village is known as the largest Muslim settlement in Jembrana Regency. Good relations between adherents of Islam and Hinduism in Bali that have been established for a long time, became the cause of the Jembrana ruler at that time, I Gusti Arya Pancoran, allowing Bugis-Malay groups to occupy the Loloan area.
Another story can be found in Pegayaman Village, Buleleng. Daily life of Muslim communities here, like life in Bali in general. Only the forms of houses of worship are clearly different. This is its uniqueness, traditional Balinese symbols such as Subak, Seka or Banjar, still live well in Muslim groups.
If in Bali alone can be like that, why not in other regions? From its inception, Indonesia consisted of various tribes, customs, cultures and religions. It is not beautiful if there is still someone who still insists that only his religion is the most correct and must be upheld on Indonesian soil. My religion is my religion, your religion your religion. Let us protect Indonesia’s diversity as the noble heritage of our predecessors.
* The author is a Study Contributor of the Indonesian Strategic Information Institute (LSISI)