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)