Students activists set aside differences<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Student activists laid their differences on the
\ntable on Tuesday, discussed them and agreed that any spats among
\nthem should not affect their proreform struggle.<\/p>\n
Representatives of three major student groups here said that
\nconcerns about students being compartmentalized and thus
\nrendering them easy to manipulate should not be exaggerated.<\/p>\n
Their most important creed was nonviolence, they said.<\/p>\n
M. Novel Ariyadi of the Indonesian Moslem Students Action
\nFront (KAMMI) said people should just learn to face the \"true
\nidentity\" of the student movement, that it was plural in many
\nrespects. \"Plurality is not taboo; what's taboo is when you
\nalways want to win at all costs,\" Novel, of KAMMI's research
\ndepartment, said.<\/p>\n
Demands in students marches have included the creation of a
\nnational presidium and the resignation of Minister of Defense and
\nSecurity\/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto and President B.J.
\nHabibie. Groups have not been consistent in their demands,
\nleading to some being labeled as more radical than others.<\/p>\n
However, the students reiterated on Tuesday that their
\nuniversal demand was free and fair elections while it was only
\nstrategies that differed.<\/p>\n
Novel said that his group accentuated their Moslem identity.<\/p>\n
\"But, we can always share a common ground on many other things
\ndespite our differences,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Novel noted that uniformity was a value forced into the
\nsociety over the past three decades. \"It's part and parcel of the
\nsole principle (of the state ideology Pancasila being imposed on
\npolitical parties), the Armed Forces's dual function and Soeharto
\nhimself,\" said the student of the University of Indonesia's
\nelectrical engineering faculty.<\/p>\n
KAMMI is among the groups advocating the scrapping of
\nPancasila as an obligatory organizational principle for political
\nparties. It charges that the concept has been abused to dictate
\nto parties to favor those in power.<\/p>\n
\"Won't a political party be charged with being against the
\nstate ideology if it fails to mention (Pancasila) as a party
\nprinciple?\" Novel argued.<\/p>\n
Tubagus Ace Hasan Sadili of the Ciputat Student Senates
\nCommunication Forum (FKSMC) criticized the student movement as
\nlacking a binding \"ideology\", but agreed that it should adhere to
\ndifferent strategies.<\/p>\n
\"There should simply be a division of labor,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Tubagus cited there were groups advocating mass street
\nprotests while others were striving to introduce vision and
\nother, less confrontational, tactics. He cited the newly
\nannounced University Network for a Free and Fair Election as one
\nvariety of the student movement.<\/p>\n
The network announced on Saturday that 14 campuses had signed
\nup and dozens more were expected. It plans to be one of many
\nvolunteer organizations monitoring next year's elections.<\/p>\n
Syafiq of the Student Action Front for Reform and Democracy
\n(FAMRED), prominent in street protests, added that the protests
\nwere designed to pressure the decision makers.<\/p>\n
\"We resort to mass action because the political mechanism
\ndoesn't work properly, so there must be pressure to make it work.
\nAs Lord Acton said, power tends to corrupt,\" said Syafiq, a
\nstudent of the Jakarta Driyarkara Institute of Philosophy.<\/p>\n
Tuesday's discussion was co-organized by the Institute for the
\nStudy on Free Flow of Information (ISAI) and the Ciputat Students
\nForum (FORMACI).<\/p>\n
Nationwide student protests led to the ouster of Soeharto in
\nMay after decades of little activism on campuses. (aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-activists-set-aside-differences-1447893297",
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