Students urged to help foster genuine reform<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Students, at the forefront of the reform movement in 1998,
\nhave been urged to take up their old role once more in the face
\nof a political elite widely blamed for diverting the winds of
\nchange.<\/p>\n
Former student activist Hariman Siregar and Muslim scholar
\nUlil Abshar Abdalla say they believe that students are relatively
\nfree from political constraints and, in most cases, represent the
\ntrue will of the people.<\/p>\n
Ulil voiced concerns in a discussion held by the Indonesian
\nMuslim Association (HMI) here on Tuesday that, currently, the
\nmovement was not directed by genuine reformists.<\/p>\n
\"The sweeping reform was sparked by the students in 1998, and
\nthey initially spearhead the movement ... but their role has been
\nusurped by legislators and politicians,\" Ulil told participants
\nin the discussion entitled \"Students and the Plurality of the
\nNation.\"<\/p>\n
The takeover of this role has raised concerns among pro-
\ndemocracy activists, who have alleged that legislators and
\npoliticians have tarnished the reform movement, said Hariman.<\/p>\n
Had the students maintained their leadership role, the reform
\nmovement would have not gone astray, according to Hariman, who
\nwas jailed following a violent anti-Japan rally in 1974, known as
\nMalari incident.<\/p>\n
Hariman noted that, in most cases, politicians and legislators
\nhave failed to live up to people's expectations, since they were
\nalready preoccupied by their own struggles for power.<\/p>\n
\"It is natural that politicians and legislators tend to think
\nof their own short-term interests, since they have secured
\npositions of privilege -- whereas students have nothing to lose
\nin struggling for the people's will,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"This will minimize the possible abuse of power for sure,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Hariman said that the legal proceedings for House
\nRepresentatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung were full of political
\nmaneuvering and compromises, leaving justice by the wayside.<\/p>\n
Hariman suggested that the students make a concerted effort to
\nfind answers as to why they were unable to take the leading role
\nin Indonesian politics today.<\/p>\n
\"The students should think of an engaging and a collective
\nissue, one which could bring them closer together to push the
\nreform movement ahead,\" said Hariman<\/p>\n
Besides Hariman and Ulil, the speakers came from a wide range
\nof political groups, including Muslim activist Bursah Zarnubi;
\nHarris Rusli Moti, the chairman of the People's Democratic Party
\n(PRD), and Achmad Doli Kurnia, the secretary general of the HMI.<\/p>\n
Hariman pointed out anti-oppression and justice as two
\nexamples of the issues that could be addressed by the students.<\/p>\n
He said that the students were united in 1998, but after that
\ngrew fragmented when they began fighting for certain camps of
\npolitical groups themselves -- such as Megawati Soekarnoputri,
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, and B.J. Habibie.<\/p>\n
Harris and Achmad Doli, representing the students, conceded
\nthat it was a necessity to find a collective issue to unite the
\nstudents.<\/p>\n
However, they again acknowledged the fact that the students
\nfell short of building a common enemy.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, it is a pressing need that the students should sit
\non a single discussion table to discuss what collective issue we
\nthink will keep our reform movement alive -- and on the right
\ntrack,\" said Harris Rusli from PRD.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-urged-to-help-foster-genuine-reform-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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