'More freedom may reduce protests'
'More freedom may reduce protests'
By Haryoso
SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): Anti-government demonstrations can be kept to a minimum if campuses are allowed freedom of expression, observers say.
Turtiantoro and Susilo Utomo, both lecturers at the School of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Diponegoro here, argue that the lack of freedom of expression on Indonesian campuses in relation to political and social issues has often led students to engage in street protests, a means of expressing ideas that local officials very much loathe.
The lack of freedom could also spur Indonesian students to take part in anti-Indonesian demonstrations abroad, they say.
The government has accused three Indonesian citizens of taking part in anti-Indonesian demonstrations during President Soeharto's recent visit to Germany. Two of them, Legislator Bintang Pamungkas and chief editor of the banned Tempo newsweekly, Goenawan Mohamad, have denied the accusations. The third, Jeni Rosa Damayanti, a human rights activist who is reportedly still abroad, is yet to comment on the matter.
In separate interviews with The Jakarta Post last week, Turtiantoro and Susilo said the government should not hesitate to allow students the freedom to express their opinions and should not see the campuses as a threat to national security.
"The authorities should not necessarily resort to the military approach in handling student demonstrations at home," said Turtiantoro.
He said that the demonstrations in Germany had not had any significant effect on the Indonesia's good name abroad and that the Indonesian government still had a good image.
Turtiantoro said that there should be hard evidence before anyone makes an assessment about the significance of the German demonstrations.
He said the authorities should regard the German demonstrations as a trivial matter. "The case is different if the government wants to exaggerate things," he said.
Turtiantoto added that, if the government wants to obtain objective data, it should make the best use of all possible sources of information, including the German authorities.
Susilo Utomo said that the current burning controversy underlined the fact that the Indonesian government was still unable to accept demonstrations as a means of expressing opinions.
"This implies that those involved in demonstrations have to face security authorities. In other words, they face possible arrest," he said.
In his opinion, the government should be more open to citizens' criticisms and allow greater freedom of expression, especially on the campuses.
"What happens nowadays is that security officers move in and arrest protesters on the pretext that the demonstrators are insulting the government," he said.
Susilo said that if the authorities arrested Indonesians whom they allege took part in the German protests the action would only be counter-productive.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hartono has described Indonesians who allegedly took part in the German demonstrations as citizens "whose nationalism is questionable."
Susilo, on the other hand, argued that people could not be accused of lacking a sense of nationalism simply because they criticized their government.
"There are two kinds of nationalism," Susilo said. The first kind, he said, was "my country right or wrong"; while the second was what he described as humanistic nationalism.
According to Susilo, the first model of nationalism -- which seems to be the government's preference -- required a citizen to defend his or her country's good name at all costs under all circumstances.
But a humanistic nationalist could reveal his country's weaknesses abroad, provided his aim was to improve the situation at home, Susilo said.