Students and politics

Here and abroad history records the important role which students and youngsters play in bringing about change. The New Left movement which appeared in the United States in the 1960s, for, example, inspired student movements in many other countries.

In Indonesia student protests have never succeeded without the help of the military, yet the success of the Generation of 1966 helped in fostering the student movements of successive periods.

The claim which students here have in toppling the Old Order and their participation in development efforts have made the presence of student organizations an accepted fact. Student organizations continue to be allowed to grow on campuses.

However, considering the fact that students, our future scholars, are essentially an antithesis to the establishment and to power, that acceptance is valid with a footnote.

The Campus Life Normalization/Student Coordination Body concept of the post-1978 period makes that footnote a reality. They distinguish campus life from life in the community as a whole. Students, as a part of the scientific (campus) community are required to channel their political aspirations through organizations outside the campuses.

Under such a concept discussion groups devoted to the study of political issues on an academic basis could have flourished. Such studies could have given content to student involvement in politics outside the campuses.

Why have such discussion groups failed to flourish on our campuses? Devotion to research as a part of the students' scientific activities is still regarded a luxury.

-- Kompas, Jakarta