Concerned over minister's statement

Concerned over minister's statement

We would like to express deep concern over recent statements
by Minister of Education and Culture Wiranto Arismunandar about
university student activities.

During his tenure as the rector of Bandung Institute of
Technology (ITB), we found that Wiranto established only a
minimum of communication between himself and the student body.
Even this limited communication took place in an atmosphere of
repression, with no dialogs held. Understandably, quite a large
number of students were disciplined during his tenure, which was
a gloomy time for ITB.

We very much regret his statement that the current student
demonstrations are amateurish in nature and his ban on practical
politics on campus.

In our view, the present student movement is a moral
obligation with respect to the plight of the entire people
brought about by the ongoing economic crisis. It is not a power-
oriented activity of practical politics.

Therefore, for the common good, we call on Mr. Wiranto to
exercise great care in making statements and to better
accommodate the aspirations of Indonesian students.

BENNY ASRUL

Chairman of 1993/1994 ITB School Senate

Bandung, West Java