Syafiq Hasyim – The Indonesian government's decision to grant mining concessions to religious mass organisations has resulted in some creative theological justifications. It begs the question whether the recipients have the requisite skill not to damage the environment or their own autonomy.
The administration of Indonesia's President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) recently announced that it would grant coal mining concessions to religious-based mass organisations. This development was widely panned by environmental and civil society groups. It is unclear how such organisations will find the expertise with which to manage the concessions, in an industry already rife with environmental and management problems and known to be corrupt. (Holding mining concessions means that religious-based mass organisations would have the legal rights to extract, mine and sell natural resources.)
This promise is not new; it was offered by Jokowi to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) several years ago at their Muktamar (congress) in 2021, in Lampung. Then he had said that he would offer space for creating an industry for the next "clever" generation of NU members.
Bahlil Lahadalia, the minister of investment who oversees this portfolio, further promised that NU will become the first religious-based mass organisation to be allowed to operate the concession. The prioritisation of NU indicates how Jokowi's government might feel indebted to NU for its blatant political support during his presidency over the past decade.
Indonesia's Christian mass organisations have rejected these proposed concessions.
The response of Indonesia's various Islamic organisations, however, is varied. NU's executive council chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf is the most enthusiastic leader who has welcomed Jokowi's policy, saying that NU was ready to do mining with its broad business network and human resources. However, in this author's view, NU does not have any experience in managing the mining industry. Yahya boasted that NU will play a role in creating benefits (manfaat) through the coal mining concession.
Indonesia's Council of Ulama (MUI), as another mining concession holder, also seems happy with the policy. Its deputy chairman Anwar Abbas expressed this to Jokowi and said that the concession could become a source of funding for MUI. While MUI receives social funds from the government, the sums are not sufficient for its operations. A mining concession can in theory generate more income for MUI. In the past, Anwar Abbas was critical of Jokowi's policies on many issues such as the gap in land ownership (where the richest 1 per cent of Indonesians occupy 59 per cent of the country's land while the remaining 41 per cent is shared by 99 per cent of Indonesians) and his government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is interesting that now Abbas appreciates Jokowi's policy on mining concessions.
Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Muslim organisation, has been reluctant to accept Jokowi's offer directly. Abdul Mu'ti, its secretary-general, stated that Jokowi's government had not communicated about the proposed concessions to Muhammadiyah but Muhammadiyah will carefully discuss it and will not rush to decide if such concessions should be granted. Behind this careful position, Muhammadiyah likely wants to measure their capacity because they also lack experience running mining companies.
Although mining is legal in Indonesia, it is known as a "dirty industry" because it involves the dirty practice of extracting minerals. In this context, involvement in the mining industry can potentially lead Islam-based mass organisations that lack mining experience into malpractice or mismanagement when managing and operating mines. From the environmental perspective, the involvement of Islam-based mass organisations in mining might reveal their ignorance of climate change and environmental issues to which this extractive industry has contributed.
Politically and socially speaking, Muhammadiyah is an exception.
The argument used by Islamic organisations for accepting mining concessions is based on the logic of a public good (in Arabic: maslahah) taken from Islamic legal theory. They argue that instead of rejecting these concessions, the organisations should accept them due to the potential benefits they will receive. Thus, Indonesia's Muslim organisations should be involved in this extractive industry because prior to this, certain secular and liberal groups have dominated it.
Along these lines, Yahya Staquf has argued that the acceptance of a mining concession eliminates asymmetrical resource distribution, and creates justice and equality by distributing natural resources to the whole nation. He countered NU's critics by saying that those who doubted NU's professional capacity would see evidence that NU can professionally operate a mine. Speaking pragmatically, Yahya stated that NU should accept this mining concession because it was poor (miskin).
Many critics have addressed those Islamic organisations that have accepted this policy of mining concessions. Gusdurians, an umbrella organisation of the followers of the late president and NU leader Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), rejects the concessions because they see that this industry can destroy the environment and displace people (rakyat). Gusdurians are NU's insiders so their criticism indicates dissent from the main NU organisation. Separately, Forum Cik Ditiro (an NGO forum) in Yogyakarta criticised Yahya's argument as manipulative and not based on the real needs of NU. WALHI (Wahana Lingkungan Hidup), a prominent environment NGO, argues that mining concessions can divide mass organisations and the people.
It is enough to say that even climate change and the environmental crisis linked to extractive industries mentioned by those who reject the mining concessions would not change the positions of Muslim organisations who welcome it. Oddly, the latter believe that their future management of mines can increase the quality of Indonesia's democracy. As part of civil society, mass Islamic organisations like NU, Muhammadiyah, and others should consistently play a role as the champions of democracy and independence. Accepting mining concessions from the state can adversely influence the quality of both Indonesia's democracy and the organisations' independence.
All this shows that the mining concessions are part of a political deal between NU and Jokowi's government. It contradicts, however, NU's progressive and green advocacy which it has now compromised by accepting the chance to do business in one of the dirtiest industries.
[Syafiq Hasyim is a Visiting Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, and Lecturer and Director of Library and Culture at the Indonesian International Islamic University.]
Source: https://fulcrum.sg/indonesias-islam-based-mass-organisations-and-the-mining-industry-vortex