Students honor 'reform heroes'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Students at most universities throughout the
\ncountry postponed classes yesterday to hold rallies honoring four
\npeers who died in Jakarta Tuesday when security personnel opened
\nfire on what students insisted was a peaceful protest.<\/p>\n
The largest rally was held at Trisakti's main campus on Jl. S.
\nParman in West Jakarta, the site of the tragedy. Staunch
\ngovernment critics were in attendance. They include Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, who has largely kept silent for the past three
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Thousands also turned up at the Tanah Kusir and Al Kamal
\ncemeteries in Jakarta and Cipakurung cemetery in Bandung for
\nburials of the four Trisakti students.<\/p>\n
Trisakti rector Mudanto Martejo called the dead students
\n\"heroes\" of the reformation movement, a sentiment also expressed
\nin posters waved at the Trisakti rally and the funerals.<\/p>\n
Their friends went even further, describing them as \"martyrs\"
\nwho \"died fighting for justice and truth\".<\/p>\n
Mudanto implored student protesters at other campuses to keep
\ntheir rallies peaceful to honor their dead colleagues.<\/p>\n
The appeal was widely observed in rallies in Jakarta and
\nelsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n
The four were the first fatalities among students after nearly
\nthree months of incessant protests at almost all higher learning
\ninstitutions, calling for economic and political reforms.<\/p>\n
Confusion persisted yesterday about the death toll.<\/p>\n
The body count was four, and that number of funerals was held
\nin Jakarta and Bandung.<\/p>\n
Some reports, however, said there were six deaths.<\/p>\n
Buried yesterday were Heri Hartanto of the School of
\nIndustrial Technology; Elang Mulya of the School of Architecture;
\nHendriawan Lesmana of the School of Economics, and Hafidhin Royan
\nof the School of Civil Engineering.<\/p>\n
Two other students widely reported to have died were Vero
\nPrasetyo and Alan Mulyadi, both of the School of Economics.<\/p>\n
But Stef Wawolangi, a college administrator who runs the
\nmakeshift crisis center at Trisakti, said the two were still
\nbeing treated at nearby Sumber Waras Hospital. \"They are in
\ncritical condition,\" Stef told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The crisis center at Trisakti issued a list of 28 people who
\nwere injured and 27 unaccounted as of yesterday. Stef said some
\nof those missing had since been located and the number had
\ndropped below 20.<\/p>\n
Mudanto handed over the bodies of the four students, who had
\nbeen taken to Sumber Waras Hospital, to their families in a
\ntearful and emotional ceremony held at 5 a.m. yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"This is a gray day for Trisakti University's Big Family with
\nthe death of the students,\" Mudanto said in a hoarse voice.<\/p>\n
\"I'm convinced the title of 'Heroes of Reformation' conferred
\non them will find wide acceptance among all the people who crave
\nreforms.<\/p>\n
\"They may not be regarded as heroes in the government's eyes
\nbecause they were considered to be disturbing national
\nstability.\"<\/p>\n
Besides the university's faculty and students, the ceremony
\nwas attended by students from other universities and by Jakarta
\nMilitary Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoedin, his chief of
\nstaff Brig. Gen Sudi Silalahi and the chief of the regional
\nmilitary police Col. Hendardji.<\/p>\n
Mudanto said students should not stop fighting for their cause
\ndespite the tragedy, although he did ask for greater precautions
\nto prevent more victims.<\/p>\n
\"I fully support your reform demands. But this tragedy showed
\nthat taking it to the streets carries a great risk,\" he said to a
\ncrowd which was largely silent except for the sounds of sobbing.<\/p>\n
\"We are gratified (to the grieving families) for letting us
\nhave this short ceremony. On behalf of the civitas academica, I'm
\nhanding the remains of the students to their families to be
\nburied in accordance with their religions.\"<\/p>\n
Elang and Heri were buried at Tanah Kusir cemetery in South
\nJakarta, and Hendriawan was buried at Al Kamal cemetery in Kebun
\nJeruk, West Jakarta, after his parents arrived from Balikpapan,
\nEast Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The body of Hafidhin was collected by his family who came from
\nBandung, and he was buried at Ciparukung cemetery in the West
\nJava town.<\/p>\n
At Tanah Kusir, several female students fainted in the
\nscorching heat and the emotionally charged atmosphere as the
\nbodies of Heri and Elang were lowered into their graves.<\/p>\n
Others broke into whails of grief.<\/p>\n
Several male students fought for the right to carry the bodies
\nof the two victims in the brief procession from the vehicles to
\ntheir last resting place.<\/p>\n
The two were buried side by side, Heri first, and Elang about
\n10 minutes later.<\/p>\n
There were chants of Allahu Akbar (God is Great) by the
\nthousands of students and observers. Some hummed the tune Gugur
\nBunga (Fallen Flowers) traditionally sung for heroes.<\/p>\n
Komang Sukarsana, third assistant to Trisakti's rector,
\nrepresented the university.<\/p>\n
Elang's father, Boy Bagus Yoga Nandita, gave a brief but
\ntearful speech at the funeral.<\/p>\n
\"I'm letting go of my son Elang as a martyr because we are
\nconvinced that he had been chosen by God. And I'm convinced that
\nthe cause he fought for will be continued by others,\" Boy said to
\nloud applause.<\/p>\n
Other student leaders stepped up to give their eulogies, all
\nvowing to continue where their peers had left off.<\/p>\n
Gede Mahendra from the University of Indonesia said the four
\nstudents had given their last blood to the reformation struggle.<\/p>\n
The students were \"martyrs\" killed in a holy war, he said.
\n\"They died while fighting for justice and truth.\"<\/p>\n
The grim atmosphere marking the ceremony and the funeral
\ncontrasted with the anger and emotions which ran high at the
\nrally at Trisakti's Jl. S. Parman campus yesterday morning.<\/p>\n
Megawati and Amien Rais were among the public figures who took
\nturns at the podium to urge students to be careful, but also to
\ncontinue with their struggle for reforms.<\/p>\n
Students and college administrators insisted their protests on
\nTuesday had been peaceful and that they were on the point of
\ndispersing when the shooting began.<\/p>\n
The students had held a protest since the morning and had
\ntried to take their action to the street, but they were stopped
\nby lines of riot police, they said.<\/p>\n
There was a brief standoff as students and security officers
\nnegotiated a peaceful solution. They had reached an agreement in
\nwhich both students and soldiers would pull back simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Then the shooting began.<\/p>\n
Former Supreme Court justice Adi Andojo, who is dean of
\nTrisakti's School of Law, said he had addressed the students that
\nTuesday afternoon and had left the site at about 5 p.m.,
\nconvinced that the event would pass peacefully.<\/p>\n
Other college administrators pointed out that the students
\nwere shot inside the campus, and not on the street.<\/p>\n
Doctors at Sumber Waras Hospital confirmed the four students
\nadmitted had bullet wounds.<\/p>\n
Wreaths were placed yesterday at the spots where the students
\nwere killed. One was laid in front of the rectorate office, where
\nElang was shot, and another on the steps of the college's lobby,
\nwhere Heri died as friends tried to rush him to the hospital.
\n(team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-honor-reform-heroes-1447893297",
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