Student protests turn violence in Medan, Mataram<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of students here and in at least seven
\nother cities across the country staged rallies yesterday and on
\nMonday in protest at the New Order administration's handling of
\nthe deepening economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Violence leading to injuries of both students and security
\nofficers were reported during Monday's protests in Mataram, West
\nNusa Tenggara, and Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Pontianak in West
\nKalimantan, Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara, Purwokerto in Central
\nJava, and in Yogyakarta, student protests proceeded peacefully.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, 200 Moslem students staged a brief free-speech
\nforum in the compound of the provincial legislators office in
\nSurabaya, although the office was closed for the Islamic new year
\nholiday at the time.<\/p>\n
In Pontianak yesterday, scores of Moslem students staged a
\nrally in the grounds of the town's Mujahiddin mosque. They called
\non national leaders to perform Islah, changing something bad by
\nperforming a good action.<\/p>\n
In Mataram, at least three students and one police officer
\nsustained injuries when Monday's rally deteriorated into a clash.
\nFour students were arrested and taken away for interrogation,
\naccording to Antara.<\/p>\n
The injured were taken to Mataram general hospital intensive
\ncare unit for treatment, it said.<\/p>\n
The news agency also said the scuffle between students and
\nsecurity personnel broke out when police tried to push students
\nback onto their campus after they successfully marched along a
\npublic street for over one kilometer.<\/p>\n
Both parties engaged in stone throwing and several gunshots
\nwere reportedly fired into the air to disperse thousands of
\nmarching students, the news agency said.<\/p>\n
The protesting students were from Mataram University,
\nMuhammadiyah University, and Islamic College (STAIN).<\/p>\n
During their protest, they condemned the government for
\nleading the country into a recession which has seen the price of
\ndaily essentials soar.<\/p>\n
Mataram University Rector Mulyanto was seen among the students
\nsome time after the clash broke out, soothing them and asking
\nthem to return to the campus.<\/p>\n
In Medan, several student protests took place separately at
\nNorth Sumatra University, North Sumatra Islamic University, North
\nSumatra Muhammadiyah University, Medan Institute of Technology
\nand St. Thomas Catholic University.<\/p>\n
There was a repeat of Friday's scenes when students threw
\nMolotov cocktails at security personnel, who responded by firing
\nvolleys of teargas near the entrance to the North Sumatra
\nUniversity.<\/p>\n
"We don't intend to shoot the students, but we don't want them
\nto get too near to us," Medan Police Chief Lt. Col. Nono Priyono,
\nwho was at the scene, said.<\/p>\n
Over one hundred students standing 200 meters away from the
\nentrance gate mocked the officers, and threw stones and petrol
\nbombs, but retreated after tear gas canisters were fired.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra police spokesman Lt. Col. Amrin Karim, told The
\nJakarta Post yesterday that no students had been detained. He
\nadded that "only eight students" had been taken in for
\nquestioning and all had subsequently been released.<\/p>\n
In Kupang on Monday, 50 students from Nusa Cendana University,
\nWidya Mandira Catholic University, Artha Wacana Christian
\nUniversity, and Muhammadiyah University staged a protest at the
\nEl Tari airport.<\/p>\n
The students demanded that Minister of Education Wiranto
\nArismunandar resign for failing to support student protests.
\nThe controversial minister was reportedly on a visit to the
\nprovince, but students later found out this was not the case.<\/p>\n
Another protest demanding Wiranto's resignation was staged in
\nPurwokerto, Central Java, on Wijaya Kusuma University campus.<\/p>\n
Over 1,000 students, watched by 100 riot police, also demanded
\nthe resignation of President Soeharto, whose New Order
\nadministration they said had failed to lead the nation out of the
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
Popular aspirations<\/p>\n
In Jakarta on Monday, 200 students from Syarif Hidayatullah
\nInstitute for Islamic Studies called for reform and the
\nresignation of Soeharto after attending a discussion featuring
\neconomist Emil Salim, noted Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid, and
\nGolkar executive Irsyad Sudiro.<\/p>\n
The students demonstrated briefly before they dispersed to say
\nafternoon prayers.<\/p>\n
During the discussion, Nurcholish defended the student
\ndemonstrations which he described as "politics which heeded
\npopular aspirations", and something that should not be belittled
\nby the government.<\/p>\n
The scholar said it would be unfair for the government to
\ndismiss the protests by saying the students had failed to provide
\nsuggestions on how to solve the crisis.<\/p>\n
The students were voicing the people's aspirations and the
\ndemonstrations were a moral movement which the government must
\nheed, he said. (21\/45\/nur\/rid\/aan)<\/p>",
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