Generally, people are aware that Javanese culture affects many aspects of this country’s politics. To aid them, Javanese leaders often look to examples from the two Adikakawin (Great Epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata) in wayang for inspiration, which form an integral component of their culture and philosophy. To briefly summarise, the interests of the Islamists and the Pluralists (which includes the moderate Muslims and the ethno-religious minorities) must be harmonised and kept at balance, while the interests of Tanah Jawa are also worked on behind the scenes.Īs you can imagine, maintaining the balance between these 3 communities is a complex and monumental task. I have previously written an essay titled “The Glue of Nusantara: Understanding the Javanese, Islam and the Minorities” in which I describe how Indonesia’s ethnic Javanese leaders have to carefully manage the interests of the various communities so that the country can function.
