Gandhi can starve, not students: Wiranto

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wiranto Arismunandar said students should not emulate Mahatma Gandhi by staging hunger strikes to express their grievances.

"Let Gandhi go on hunger strikes. You're not Gandhi!" Wiranto said referring to the renowned Indian leader who advocated peaceful means, among them hunger strikes, to fight colonial oppression.

"Hunger strikes make you go hungry. This is not acceptable because it's detrimental to your health," Wiranto was quoted by Antara as saying Saturday.

Dozens of students are currently staging hunger strikes at several universities in Java and Sumatra to express their concern over the economic situation and demand immediate governmental reforms.

All of the protests carry a common and urgent message: Curb the rising prices of essential goods.

But Wiranto seemed indifferent to the methods the students were pursuing to express their grievances.

Wiranto's comments followed a meeting Saturday with leaders and members of the Consultative Board for Indonesian Private Universities.

The hunger strikes are part of a series of almost daily student demonstrations at university campuses demanding reforms to address the economic crisis.

Wiranto is no stranger to controversy with students and has a history of standing up to campus protests. While being a rector of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in West Java, Wiranto's administration expelled no less than 66 students, including 11 subsequently jailed, after they organized a protest against the visit of a cabinet minister.

Wiranto was ITB rector from 1989 to 1997. (byg)