Amal wins students' heart<\/p>\n
By Asip Agus Hasani<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Political scientist Ichlasul Amal rose up to
\nthe first test of his leadership when he met hundreds of students
\ndemonstrating for reform on the day he was installed as rector of
\nGadjah Mada University on March 23.<\/p>\n
\"I promise to provide as wide a space as possible for your
\naspirations. I am placing myself at your disposal so you can
\nchannel your aspirations about problems facing our country,\" he
\ntold the students gathered outside the Students Hall.<\/p>\n
A week later, he witnessed some of the bloodiest
\ndemonstrations in months when students clashed with security
\npersonnel, leaving many seriously injured.<\/p>\n
Amal and his assistant, Bambang Kartika, faced up to the
\nsecurity forces' leaders, calling on them not to \"provoke
\nstudents.\" Amal also went to the local police station to seek the
\nrelease of some students detained there.<\/p>\n
He maintained his favorable stance toward student
\ndemonstrations even when Minister of Education and Culture
\nWiranto Arismunandar reiterated a ban on students becoming
\ninvolved in practical politics.<\/p>\n
Amal said: \"Practical politics has nothing to do with student
\ndemonstrations, since the government has banned political parties
\nfrom entering campuses.<\/p>\n
\"The minister said rectors need to identify for themselves
\nwhether certain activities of their students could be categorized
\nas practical politics, and I don't think my students' activities
\ncan be called that.\"<\/p>\n
Born in the East Java town of Jember on Aug. 1, 1942, Amal
\nleft for Yogyakarta in 1961 in order to study economics at Gadjah
\nMada University. But the school of economics was too far from his
\nboarding house, so he decided on international relations instead.<\/p>\n
He graduated in 1967 and later taught at Gadjah Mada's School
\nof Social and Political Sciences. He obtained his masters degree
\nat Northern Illinois University in the United States in 1974, and
\nhis doctorate in political science at Monash University in
\nAustralia 10 years later.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto approved Amal's rectorship after he
\ndefeated fellow professors Sofian Effendy and Suprodjo in an
\nelection earlier this year.<\/p>\n
He soon proved to have won the hearts of many, especially
\nstudents who were facing financial difficulties due to the crisis
\nand unable to pay their tuition fees. Amal promised to help them,
\nand part-time workers at the university who were only making Rp
\n75,000 (US$8.33) per month.<\/p>\n
Koento Wibisono, the chairman of an association of Gadjah Mada
\nalumni, praised Amal for his quick response to the students'
\nplight.<\/p>\n
\"I admire the way he responded quickly to reports that more
\nand more students find it difficult to pay their tuition fees,\"
\nsaid Koento.<\/p>\n
Koento said Amal was facing the difficult tasks of handling
\nstudent protests while maintaining scientific activities and
\ndeveloping Gadjah Mada as a research university.<\/p>\n
Amal was considered to be a popular choice. In September last
\nyear, 500 Gadjah Mada students held a poll on who they would like
\nto see leading the campus; and Amal won 34 percent -- way above
\nthe other 21 names mentioned by the poll organizers.<\/p>\n
\"He is a rector after the students' hearts,\" said Ridaya La
\nOde Ngkowe, chairman of the Gadjah Mada student body.<\/p>\n
Another student leader, Haris Rusli, said Amal would be ideal
\nto lead an educational institution struggling to achieve its
\nautonomy.<\/p>\n
Moderate<\/p>\n
Amal, however, is not known for his sharp analysis on
\nIndonesian politics. He is more moderate than many other
\npolitical observers.<\/p>\n
\"It's probably the consequence of being a bureaucrat as well
\nas an observer,\" he said. But he defined his \"moderate\" stance as
\ndesiring compromise between those who are seeking to maintain the
\nstatus quo and those who are pro-change.<\/p>\n
\"There are times when we need a pro-change, radical stance,
\nlike now, when economic and political reforms are badly needed,\"
\nhe said. \"If students remain silent in a multidimensional crisis
\nsuch as this, they will become a laughing stock.<\/p>\n
\"As a moral force, students should be in the forefront of
\nthose seeking change,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The slowness with which Indonesia was coping with its economic
\ntroubles is due to problems in its political system. \"The private
\ndebt (problem) went out of control because of collusion, nepotism
\nand because our political system has a big leeway that allows
\nabuse of authority.\"<\/p>\n
Amal says there's a difference between today's student demands
\nfor reform with those of the students in the 1960s, who were
\nbasing their movement on the question of ideology. \"Today's
\nproblems need careful and rational handling,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We can learn from the (now defunct) Soviet Union, which
\nchanged its system in a gradual and extraordinary manner, without
\nviolence or any setbacks (to its economy),\" he said.<\/p>\n
He suggested that students concentrate their demands on
\nreform, and stay away, at least for now, on other issues such as
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
Amal was convinced the Armed Forces (ABRI) was also rethinking
\nits stance and role as it had proved to be unable to do much to
\nalleviate the monetary crisis.<\/p>\n
\"Students need to realize that ABRI is a real political force,
\nas is the government,\" said Amal, who organizes the postgraduate
\nprogram on national resilience. \"On the other hand, ABRI should
\nadmit that students, too, are a political force. Especially now
\nthat the nation is facing such a multidimensional crisis.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/amal-wins-students-heart-1447893297",
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