The Birthday of the First Pancasila

On June 1, 1945 Sukarno made a speech on the basis of the country he named Pancasila. The date of June 1 is then designated as the Birthday of Pancasila. However, there are those who sue on the grounds Soepomo and Mohammad Yamin also convey the idea of ​​the state base. There is also a vote on August 18 as the Birthday of Pancasila when the 1945 Constitution set on August 18, 1945. This debate will always surface every commemoration of the Birthday of Pancasila.

President Soekarno and DN Aidit, chairman of the PKI CC, during the anniversary of the Indonesian Communist Party on May 23, 1965. Photo:

How was Pancasila's birthday commemorated?

As a digger of Pancasila, Sukarno tried to make the country's philosophy widely known by the people.

According to Mangil Martowidjojo, commander of the Tjakrabirawa Regatta Private Detachment who escorted Sukarno and his family, Sukarno talked about Pancasila everywhere, all over Indonesia.

"I am sure, the people of Indonesia better understand about the birth of this Pancasila because the commoners hear the information directly from the mouth of Bung Karno as the excavator of the five pearls," said Mangil in the Testimony of Bung Karno 1945-1967.

Mangil reveals that at the time Sukarno spoke of Pancasila at public meetings, the characters who listened to his speech on June 1, 1945 were still alive. At that time, no one denied or opposed, either individually or in the newspapers, that the Pancasila was not a Bung Karno excavation.

"This means that all know and understand, it is true that Pancasila Bung Karno who dig from Indonesia earth," said Mangil.

According to historian Peter Kasenda in Bung Karno the Revolution Commander of Sukarno's speech on June 1, 1945 entitled The Birth of Pancasila and published the Department of Information in 1947. Eleven years later, in 1958 and 1959, President Sukarno gave courses at the State Palace of Jakarta, and a public lecture at the Seminar Pancasila in Yogyakarta. The series of speeches and the speech of the Birth of Pancasila on June 1, 1945 was written entitled Pancasila as the State Basis.

Sukarno initially felt enough with the course or general meetings in campaigning Pancasila. However, he was later struck by the statement of DN Aidit, chairman of the PKI CC.

In early May 1964, Aidit made a shocking statement questioning Pancasila as the basis of the state. In a speech entitled "Brave, Brave, Once More Courageous," Aidit said "Pancasila may temporarily achieve its goal as a supporting factor in forging the unity and strength of Nasakom. But once Nasakom becomes a reality, then Pancasila by itself will be no more. "

According to Ganis Harsono, a foreign ministry spokesman during the Sukarno era, perhaps because he was so influenced by Aidit's attitude of perverting Pancasila, the president suddenly demanded the commemoration of the birth of Pancasila on June 1, 1964.

"It was the nineteenth day of Pancasila, and many people find it strange, that it was the official celebration of the Indonesian state for the first time," Ganis said in his memoir, the Political Horizon of Era Sukarno.

Pancasila's Birthday is commemorated for the first time with state ceremony at Istana Merdeka. The slogan chosen is Pancasila All Time. On that occasion, Sukarno outlined how he had formulated Pancasila, following his fifth sequence of silalah.

After making this horrendous statement, Aidit's relationship with Sukarno was tenuous. In fact, Ganis calls "the sense of hatred that arises between Sukarno and Aidit looks even more real."

The PKI then attempted to make an alignment of Aidit's statement by issuing Aidit Defending the Pantjasila (1964). Aidit also shared his views on religion and Pancasila in an interview with journalist Solichin Salam which was

Meanwhile, the Birthday Celebration of Pancasila is then held every year, every June 1st. Finally Sukarno commemorates the birthday of Pancasila on June 1, 1966. After that, the New Order regime made him house arrest until his death on June 21, 1970.

On September 17, 1966, the Minister / Army Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Soeharto set the date of October 1 as Pancasila Miracle Day - the anniversary of Suharto's success to thwart the attempts of the 1965 coup. Soeharto also commemorated Pancasila's Birthday on June 1, 1967 and 1968.

In an attempt to remove Sukarno's heritage, the New Order regime through Kopkamtib (Operation Command for Restoring Security and Order) banned the anniversary of Pancasila's Birth Day from June 1, 1970. The New Order's commemoration is the Pancasila Miracle Day every October 1st.

On June 1, 2016 President Joko Widodo signed the Presidential Decree (Keppres) no. 24 of 2016 which establishes June 1, 1945 as the Birthday of Pancasila. And June 1 is designated a national holiday starting 2017.

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published by Pembina magazine, August 12, 1964.