Bus burned as violence mars students protest

Bus burned as violence mars students protest

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): A group of students set a state
public bus alight here on Friday as two weeks of demonstrations
demanding an independent state heated up.

Witnesses said the students stopped the bus near the new
Makassar State University campus on Jl. Malengkeri and forced the
driver to lend them the vehicle.

The students started to vandalize the bus after the driver
resisted their demand. Ten passengers rushed out of the bus in
panic before the angry students set it alight.

No injuries were reported in the fire.

Student leader Iswary Al Farizi suspected that the action was
triggered by a statement by newly-appointed Minister of Regional
Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid, who played down the student movement and
called it "unserious".

"Our political elite will only think about the seriousness of
a student movement if it uses violence. That's why some students
committed arson; to signal that we are serious," Iswary said.

Police confirmed that the arson was committed by some Makassar
State University students.

"We regret the incident. We are now questioning witnesses and
we have identified the prime suspects," local Police chief Col.
Haryanto Budihardjo said on Friday.

"However we will be careful in handling this case because we
do not want to instigate further unrest," he added.

The student protests came as a result of former president B.J.
Habibie's failure to win a majority vote from the People's
Consultative Assembly on his accountability speech on Oct. 12.
For many of the people in the province Habibie is a local hero.

Meanwhile the provincial legislature's speaker Amin Syam said
he had received phone calls from anonymous people who threatened
to burn down his official residence if the legislature failed to
side with the students.

Amin said he had asked for police protection following the
mysterious calls.

He said the provincial legislature would not support the
student movement, saying it was more realistic for the province
to rely on the full implementation of regional autonomy.

The legislature also called on security forces to take stern
measures against demonstrators who tore down the national
red-and-white flag, saying the action was an insult to the
country's pride.

Provincial Police chief Brig. Gen. Mudji Santoso declined to
comment further on the students movement.

In Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, local Indonesian Nationalist
Student Movement (GMNI) activists lashed out at their fellow
students in Makassar who spearheaded a separatist movement on
behalf of east Indonesian people.

"Their demand for independence proves that the discourse on
nationhood in the country has yet to be over. In connection to
the Youth Pledge Day, we declare our opposition to the movement
and condemn any efforts to divide the country," the GMNI chapter
said in its statement sent to the People's Consultative Assembly
and House of Representatives on Friday. (edt/yac/27)