More protests against 'Menwa'

SEMARANG: Hundreds of students from various higher education institutions across Central Java converged on the campus of the August 17 University on Tuesday to stage a protest against the existence of student regiments in their midst.

The gathering was organized by the Indonesian Student Solidarity for Democracy which has been touring various universities in the country to generate students' support in their protests against the students' regiments, known by Indonesians as Menwa.

The organizers have previously organized similar rallies at other cities in Indonesia, including Medan, Manado and Palu. Today, they plan to stage a rally in Yogyakarta.

The protesters said the Menwa members have been behaving as though they were the leaders in their campus, and do not hesitate in beating up non-regiment members.

Their behavior is a discredit to society and also to ABRI, which provides the regiment with basic military training.

The government has agreed to review the way Menwa is organized and supervised but stresses that overall, the regiment is useful as part of the nation's total people defense concept. (har/emb)