The Culture of Pancasila. An Indonesian concept that fuses the impossible

This paper offers a brief insight into the history and culture of Pancasila. Called the Indonesian National Philosophy, in force since 1945, it aims to embrace all aspects of life, to provide tolerance and justice in Indonesia to all. Since independence, however, Indonesia has been struggling with intractable problems of religious intolerance and minority communities, despite a functioning democracy today. Pancasila stems from compromises and alliances between the different major religious communities, both Muslim and non-Muslim, but which cause social exclusion of some groups at the same time. For years, during the presidency of Soekarno and Suharto, it served as a political tool to ensure relative peace and control in the state, and today seems to be only a set of phrases repeated in Indonesia without further reflection on their content.