Indonesian university students reborn as a political force

By Ignatius Haryanto

JAKARTA (JP): In the past few weeks student protests on university campus sites have been widely reported in the media. The protests were held to demand political and economic reform to end the monetary crisis. Some went as far as to demand a new president.

Protests began at the end of last year, when Gadjah Mada University students published mock election results held on the campus. Ninety percent of the ballot papers returned refused to reelect Soeharto for the 1998/2003 period. Protests and demonstrations were also held at universities in Bandung, Jakarta, Purwokerto, Kudus and Surabaya.

Students voiced concern over the grave economic and political situation, which they believe has left the people of Indonesia without hope. Price increases, missing goods, a weak and volatile rupiah, corruption, collusion and special privileges for select cronies of the government all came under vociferous attack.

In fact, a number of the issues raised in this wave of protest are recurrent grievances which have been the cause of past demonstrations. Past generations of students protested against corruption in 1971, excessive Japanese investment in 1974 and Soeharto's leadership in 1978.

The fact that these issues resurfaced might indicate that student movements have become stronger after a lengthy period of hibernation enforced by a drive to depoliticize higher education after 1978.

It is interesting to note that student protests were last seen exactly 20 years ago in 1978. That wave of protests ended when the military sent armored vehicles onto the sites of the University of Indonesia and the Bandung Institute of Technology.

In the aftermath of this incident, students were educated in an apolitical atmosphere under the semester credit system (SKS). This new system pushed them to finish their studies in the shortest possible time, effectively paralyzing student concern for events in society at large.

Those who wanted to remain politically active had to take their soap-boxes of the campus. They established study groups and social worker groups which later evolved into non-government organizations (NGOs) in the early 1980s.

The activists then consolidated their strength and formed small committees without university affiliations, which they used to present their advocacy on a number of community issues, such as power tariff increases in 1988 and problems with land compensation in West and Central Java.

A well known case involving these committees centered around the World Bank funded Kedung Ombo dam project in Central Java. Displaced villagers received meager compensation for the land they had lost, however the dam project went ahead, despite intense international pressure.

By the end of the 1980s student movements were becoming increasingly radical. Then, in December 1993, 21 students were arrested following a protest outside the House of Representatives' building.

Thereafter, launching protests away from campus sites became a common tactic. When on-campus protests were revived at the University of Indonesia last month, it indicated a reverse in this trend, possibly due to the tight security measures currently in place.

Interestingly, students and alumni cooperated in the protests. Lecturers at the Bandung Institute of Technology, for example, had previously aired objections to Soeharto's reelection. This new development needs further observation.

It is clear that students, which for years were scorned as toothless, have again shown their fangs. Attempts by the government to depoliticize Indonesian campus sites do not appear to have been effective. A number of factors may have contributed to this state of affairs.

Student thinking has evolved through political socialization which they received from their seniors.

In addition to this, the taught curriculum no longer offered a critical perspective on the current situation and in doing so failed to satisfy a thirst for knowledge. Some lecturers may have answered this demand for a wider perspective by going beyond the bounds of the curriculum. Driven by a political dynamic, the students eventually moved out to face reality.

Socialization among students themselves has also led to awareness of the realities in their communities. Sharing experience with their classmates proved to be a political education far more readily digestible than formal lectures.

Megawati's ousting from the leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), the jailing of members of the outlawed Indonesian Democratic Party (PRD), the heavily engineered general election and the denial of public information and expression are the real lessons which this generation of students have digested.

These experiences have helped them to make a very clear distinction between black and white, good and bad, noble and rotten. With this ability, information presented in the media became a reality upon which judgments could be made in accordance with their own political experience. Choices on a course of action can then be made. One choice pertains to taking action.

The students' are concerned about the political environment. The behavior of the authorities has continuously declined and is now intolerable.

Students embody the collective aspirations of society. They are the fortunate individuals who have gone on to further education and who have an important role in the future of the country. It is therefore fitting that they show concern in a time of crisis.

Systematic steps taken by the establishment to silence the student voice seem to have failed. That they have, and that the student community continues to harass the government, only shows the gravity of the situation which we currently face.

The writer is chairman of the Institute for the Study of the Press and Development.

Window: Systematic steps taken by the establishment to silence the student voice seem to have failed. That they have, and that the student community continues to harass the government, only shows the gravity of the situation which we currently face.