Building Villages Without Disregarding Human Dignity

Indonesia's "Village Red and White Cooperative" (Kopdes Merah Putih) program aims to revitalize rural economies and foster community self-reliance. The initiative positions cooperatives as key instruments for mobilizing local economic potential, encompassing the distribution of essential goods, development of productive businesses, financial services, and management of regional commodities.

The program's underlying philosophy emphasizes that capital and infrastructure alone are insufficient for grassroots economic development. It stresses the critical need to cultivate capable human resources to manage these potentials. Consequently, the government has promoted character-building for prospective cooperative managers through training that incorporates military-style discipline.

While the objective of instilling integrity, loyalty, resilience, and a strong sense of public service is understandable for economic institutions requiring good governance, a recent incident has cast a shadow over the training methods. Five prospective managers reportedly died during the training. Although medical examinations attributed their deaths to pre-existing health conditions rather than violence during training, the event has sparked fundamental questions.

These questions challenge whether a semi-military approach is the most appropriate method for developing managers of community-based economic institutions. The inquiry is not intended to dismiss the program's broader goals but rather to ensure that noble objectives are pursued through means consistent with humanitarian values. The concept of 'maqashid syariah,' which focuses on the objectives of Islamic law in safeguarding essential aspects of human life like religion, soul, intellect, lineage, and property, offers a framework for this reflection. It prompts an evaluation of policies based not just on administrative correctness but on their alignment with human welfare and societal benefit.