However, the Pancasila taught was reduced to 40 virtues that ought to be practiced in societal life. In addition, there was “de-Sukarno-ization” aimed at belittling President Sukarno’s role in Indonesian history, including the creation of Pancasila. Prior to 1965, June 1 was celebrated as the birthday of Pancasila, but in 1970 the commander of the Security and Order Operational Command (Kopkamtib) banned the commemoration.
Nugroho Notosusanto wrote in a 1971 leaflet that Mohammad Yamin had given a speech about the foundation of the state before Sukarno. Ten years later, in 1981, Nugroho published a different leaflet, adding the name of another figure, Soepomo. In the Reformasi era, historians revisited the manuscript of the BPUPKI session.
What Soepomo conveyed was not the basis of the state, but the conditions for the establishment of a state (territory, population and government). Yamin’s speech was included in his book, published in the 1950s. However, the length of the speech did not correspond to the duration limit of the BPUPKI session. It is suspected that the manuscript was only written in the 1950s.
During the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) administration, PDI-P declared itself as an opposition party. But Taufik Kiemas managed to become Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). As speaker, he on several occasions held commemorations for the “Speech of Sukarno June 1, 1945”. While the date – June 1 – was mentioned, it was not explicitly stated as the anniversary of Pancasila.
There was pressure on President SBY to issue a presidential decree stipulating June 1 as the birthday of Pancasila. However, the effort was countered by an open letter to the President written by an Islamic figure, A.M. Fatwa. According to him, Muslims reject June 1 as the birthday of Pancasila, but instead support June 22 as the anniversary of the Jakarta Charter.
Change took place during the President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration. In 2015, there was aspiration among Islamic boarding schools for the designation of a national Santri Day. At first, the ideas was for Santri Day to be celebrated on Islamic New Year, the 1st of Muharram. H
owever, this was inconvenient because the 1st of Muharram does not fall on the same date every year, according to the Gregorian calendar. In the end, President Joko Widodo decreed October 22 as Santri Day. What is the reason behind this? Because on October 22, 1945, KH Hasyim Asy’ari, leader of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia – declared a jihad in Surabaya.
The fatwa obliges all Muslims to defend the country within a certain radius. That is what, among other things, prompted the Muslim Arek-Arek Suroboyo to fight the Allied/British troops on November 10, 1945, in what is known as the Battle of Surabaya. In the Reformasi era, this defining event was not taught in history lessons at school.
A few months later, the East Java branch of NU held a seminar and the resolution were conveyed by NU central board to President Joko Widodo. The seminar concluded that June 1 should be the birthday of Pancasila. However, the presidential decree issued in 2016 mentioned the three dates – June 1, June 22 and August 18 – as a string of events that led to the birth of Pancasila.
Read: UNESCO Lists Sukarno’s Speech As Memory Of The World
Other than religious holy days, there are only two national days proclaimed as public holidays, namely Independence Day on August 17 and the anniversary of Pancasila on June 1. This shows how important Pancasila is.
To summarize, Pancasila has internal and external functions and roles. For one, it is the foundation of a dynamic and free and active foreign policy. It is also the unifying symbol of the nation, because it embraces all religions and ethnic groups who call the archipelago home. And it is also, in the words of Sukarno, the “guiding star” that shows us the direction toward social justice. (Asvi Warman Adam)