Students deserve to be listened to

Students deserve to be listened to

Numerous comments, including those from top officials, greeted
the proposed dialog between university students and the Armed
Forces. Political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono hopes the
Armed Forces will eventually be willing to listen to what the
students have to say.

JAKARTA (JP): The readiness of the military leadership to
engage in dialog with the students is in itself a positive
attitude worthy of appreciation. For their part, the students
should respond accordingly, instead of flatly rejecting the
offer.

The dialog should be held without preconditions, although the
students' demands for a guarantee of their security and that the
dialog be held within the confines of the campus, with the
military present in civilian clothes, sound reasonable.

After all, there is no reason for the military to fear the
students, but the same perhaps cannot be said for the latter.

But I do not see any reason for the participation of other
nonmilitary personnel, such as cabinet ministers. They do not
represent any institution the way the military leaders do, and as
such are not in a position to affect in a meaningful way the
working of the political system, the core of the students'
demand.

I consider the attitude of some cabinet ministers toward the
students to be arrogant and abominable. The reactionary remark
made by the education minister, himself a former rector of an
outstanding university, that the students were amateur
politicians is perhaps more indicative of how out of touch he is
with the younger generation, particularly university students.

The state minister of public housing and settlement, a
prominent figure of the "1966 generation" of student activists,
remarked that demonstrations by students of his time related to
fundamental issues, seemingly implying the current demands of the
students do not. He also suggested that the students should share
a common perception and devote themselves to national
development.

Such remarks only serve to show how adversely affected these
honorable ministers have been by co-optation and vested
interests. One would hope that no accusations are leveled at the
students of being "exploited by third parties", something that
has formed part of a growing habit of government leaders to find
scapegoats for things they do not like or cannot understand.

It is also a manifestation of prejudice, the feeling of
insecurity and reluctance to face the glaring realities right
before their eyes.

Memories are short. Today's leaders, military as well as
civilian, should remember that many of the founding fathers of
this republic started their movement for national independence
when they were young university students: Sukarno and Hatta,
Syahrir, Ali Sastroamidjojo, and dozens of others in Western
Europe, particularly Holland.

In many other countries, university students helped to make
history in their respective countries. This was true in South
Korea in the 1950s against the corrupt and autocratic rule of
President Syngman Rhee, and later against President Chun Doo
Hwan, and in France at the beginning of the 1960s with the
movement since then known as the dawn of the New Left. In
Thailand in the 1970s, the student movement led to a change in
the constitution; in the United States, students staged sit-ins
in their protest against the Vietnam War.

Last but not least, in this country in 1966, the student
movement brought continuous pressure to bear on the Sukarno
regime, and thereby, with the backing of the military,
particularly the Army's special force, helped establish the New
Order.

If there is one big difference between the student protests
today and those 30 years ago it is that the 1966 student protests
were openly supported by the military. The present student
protests, clearly and definitely concerning no less fundamental
issues, particularly political and economic reforms, have yet to
enlist and enjoy the support of the military. Hence, the possible
significance of a dialog offered by the military leadership.

It is still hard to tell whether it is possible and probable
that the military will eventually be able to provide an effective
channel for the students' demands, which, to my mind, do give
voice to the widespread demands and aspirations of the people at
large.

The General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the
supreme governing body of the national political system, ended
last month, having indicated not the slightest interest in the
issue of reform.

Whatever the case may be, the students deserve to be listened
to. So far they have only been heard, loud and clear.