Students Blockaded by Both Police and Military During Jakarta Protest
A group of students attempting to hold a demonstration at the Bundaran HI roundabout in Jakarta faced obstruction not only from the police but also from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI).
Based on observations on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. local time, hundreds of students were blocked by police and TNI personnel on Jalan MH Thamrin, precisely in front of the UOB Building. The crowd was unable to continue their journey to the Bundaran HI area.
The mass of students continuously shouted for the authorities to open the blockade so they could carry out their action at the Bundaran HI.
Earlier, the student group had been stopped in the Semanggi area on Friday afternoon and were directed to hold their demonstration in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building. Afterwards, the students embarked on a long march towards the Bundaran HI, but were once again blocked by police and TNI personnel.
The protest, initiated by the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board (BEM UI), was scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. at the Bundaran HI. The students brought five key demands: stopping the waste of the state budget, lowering the prices of basic necessities and fuel, halting the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) and the construction of the Koperasi Desa Merah Putih (Red and White Village Cooperatives), ending militarism in the civilian domain, and asking President Prabowo to stop evading responsibility and admit his mistakes.
BEM UI Chairman Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan stated that the group would continue to find a way for the masses to reach the Bundaran HI area, as the action had been planned for that location from the start. He argued that holding a demonstration at the DPR or the Presidential Palace would be futile, as no one there would listen to the people’s voice. Yatalathof explained that the students deliberately chose Bundaran HI so that the public could see that the country’s condition is not good, driven by their concern for the state. “We do not want Indonesia to truly go bankrupt! But these behaviours, if unchanged, will prove that Indonesia will go bankrupt economically, bankrupt democratically, and finally, bankrupt morally,” he said.