PROGRAM JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY CGSS AND THE INDONESIAN EMBASSY; THE THEME OF THE FIRST SESSION WAS INDONESIAN POLITICS: BETWEEN ISLAM AND NATIONALISM

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ISLAMABAD,APRIL 05 : The First Session of the International Online Internship Program, “Contemporary Dynamics of Indonesia” was held. The internship program is jointly organized by the Embassy of Indonesia to Pakistan and the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.

The session commenced with the welcome remarks of Adam Mulawarman Tugio, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Pakistan. He appreciated the initiative to conduct this Online International Internship Program. He was of the view that this program will provide an opportunity to Indonesia and Pakistan for further cooperation as both countries are democratic and home to the largest Muslim populations. He also emphasized that Indonesia has exciting opportunities for scholars and researchers that can be explored during this internship program. He concluded by inviting more ideas and areas of cooperation between Indonesia and Pakistan.

The theme of the first session was Indonesian Politics: Between Islam and Nationalism and the speaker for this session was Dr. Abdul Gaffar Karim from the faculty of Political Science, Gajah Mada University, Yogjakarta, Indonesia.

He discussed four perspectives during the session including, brief history and geography of the country, the political history of Indonesia, implementation of Syariah (Shariah) in the daily lives of Muslims in the country, and lastly the prospects.

He highlighted the social outlook of the country and mentioned that Indonesia has almost 17000 islands and it is the 4th most populous country. Moreover, it is the home to hundreds of ethnic and religious groups with a majority Muslim population.

Discussing the political outlook of the country, Dr. Abdul Gaffar shared that the state ideology is based on Pancasila, it is a democratic state with a bicameral legislature and presidential form of government where people elect their president after every 5 years,

He also highlighted the Syariah Banking system under the Bank Syariah Indonesia that follows the finance system based on the concept of Islamic monetary system, Non-riba. Furthermore, 40.4% of the Islamic bank industry is controlled by the state through the Bank Syariah Indonesia.

He added that the Syariah banking on the local level marks the presence of Islam in the daily life of people and is implemented pragmatically.

Dr. Abdul Gaffar stated that Indonesia will remain a nationalist, semi-secular state with some Islamic-inspired policies in many sectors.

The session was moderated by Ms. Laraib Fatima Hassan, Communication & Coordination Manager, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad. Masters and Ph.D. level Students from across Pakistan are a part of this Online International Internship Program. This program will equip them with the knowledge of the contemporary dynamics of Indonesia and its various sectors.