BKPRMI Applauds Ministers' Direct Dialogue with Students, Condemns Disruption at UGM

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Central Board of the Indonesian Mosque Youth Communication Agency (DPP BKPRMI) has lauded the initiative of ministers and government officials under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration to engage in direct dialogue with students on university campuses. Wakil Ketua Umum DPP BKPRMI Sedek Rahman Bahta described this as a new and positive development in the nation’s constitutional practice. “This is something new in our state practice. When public criticism arises, officials do not merely issue clarifications through the media but come directly to campuses to engage in dialogue and debate data openly with students,” Bahta stated in Jakarta on Wednesday. He noted that such direct, data-driven policy discussions represent a rare momentum that should be welcomed by the academic community. This emerging tradition is viewed as a sign of government transparency and progress in Indonesia’s democratic practices. However, BKPRMI expressed regret if this constructive communication space were to be met with persecution, intimidation, or unilateral rejection. Bahta stressed that campuses must uphold their integrity as healthy academic arenas, serving as spaces for the contestation of ideas and data validation rather than platforms for judging differing viewpoints. He also reminded that criticism from academic circles must be grounded in robust data, not mere rejection without dialogue. DPP BKPRMI hopes this pattern of direct communication will be maintained, believing it can foster a more mature and participatory Indonesian democracy oriented towards solutions through deliberation for national progress. The statement follows an incident at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) where a discussion featuring the Head of the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency Budiman Sudjatmiko, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Nusron Wahid, and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono was disrupted. The event initially proceeded smoothly before a group of students stormed the stage and unfurled banners of rejection, causing the discussion to disperse. Responding to the incident, Head of the Government Communication Agency (Bakom) RI Muhammad Qodari asserted that dialogue must be prioritised in a democratic state and that the government is committed to continuous engagement with the public to improve national priority programmes. “Democracy can only happen if there is dialogue. If there is no dialogue, only demands, that is not democracy. That is just selfishness,” Qodari said.