Cover their eyes

When I read reports on student demonstrations in newspapers, magazines and tabloids, especially when these series of demonstrations began in 1998, I was reminded of a book on a demonstration staged by Hungarian students against the occupation of Soviet soldiers assisted by their puppet, Janos Kadar. I read this book at Jefferson Library Yogyakarta, which in 1965 was destroyed by the Indonesian Communist Party. At that time I was a junior high school student. I still remember now all the Hungarian students shown in the pictures of this book had their eyes covered. My father told me that the eyes of the students were covered to protect them from possible kidnapping and revenge by the then Hungarian communist government. I admired then (and still do now) the courage shown by the Hungarian students, armed only with butter and Molotov cocktails but bravely resisting Soviet tanks. Besides, these students were also agitated by a poem written by a compatriot poet.

In this respect, our reporters may have been negligent. They have exposed the photographs of the student fighters as they are without attempting to protect them. In fact, we all know that in this Pancasila-based country abductors, provocateurs and those seeking revenge still walk around freely. Therefore, allow me to call on our reporters to cover the eyes of student activists if the photographs depicting them are to be published in the print media -- books, dailies or tabloids.

I really believe that our student fighters do not in the least intend to show off their faces. We appreciate their sacrifice. Now, we can breathe more freely thanks to the students' sacrifice.

G. ARIS BUNTARMAN

Jakarta