Students divided on role of politics in universities
Students divided on role of politics in universities
By Prapti Widinugraheni
JAKARTA (JP): Despite strong support from a number of prominent scholars towards the critical attitude of university students today, students are divided on the issue.
"Our main duty here is to study. Being a part of organizations or student groups is only a side advantage we get from being a student," said Gordianus Riyamunov, chairman of the student senate of Atmajaya University in Jakarta.
Coordinating Minister of Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman said last month that he noted a tendency among university students to act more "radically" as they "meddled in politics" and "criticized the government".
Prominent university scholars, however, have assured that concern about the radicalization of students was unfounded as their actions stemmed from a pure social concern and a feeling of moral responsibility.
Gordianus, who sought the university's deputy rector's permission before being interviewed by The Jakarta Post, said that being involved in student activities which lead to criticism of the government was a "personal choice".
While he agreed that young-spirited students had the urge to express themselves and their social concerns by trying to make a change, "how many of us really want to sacrifice our goals and future ambitions for these causes?" he asked.
"I think the situation is very difficult for us right now. Although our conscience does not allow us to ignore the injustices happening around us, we really shouldn't expect to become some kind of people's hero," he said.
Gordianus's opinion does not reflect that of all of university students.
Students from the National University in the Pasar Minggu suburb in South Jakarta considered demonstrations to be necessary and useful. National University is one of the few campuses in the country that has seen student activism.
"If not to change things, then we do it at least to voice our aspirations," reasoned Deni Syahrial, a member of the School of Economic's student senate.
Taking to the streets, he said, is a last resort "because the bureaucratic system either takes ages to respond or does not work properly". The House of Representatives, for example, can only "accommodate" problems but seldom really gets anything done, he cited.
His colleague Hendri Darwin from the school's Student Representative Council assured that the government has nothing to fear. "All that the students are trying to do is make a critique, especially when they consider that the bureaucracy has made a mistake," Hendri said.
"They want to tell the government that there may be another explanation to current problems. They try to tell officials that they should not only rely on official data -- which for many reasons is often distorted -- but should also see another side of the situation, a side for which our data is often more reliable."
Andi Haryono, secretary of the school's student senate, pointed out that in some cases, such as in the banning of the philanthropic SDSB lottery, demonstrations proved to be effective.
The lottery, which was said to cause social deprivation and moral degradation because of its speculative nature, was abolished in 1993 after students and non-governmental organization activists staged numerous protests across the country.
Deni said the government should not always try to find a scapegoat whenever university students staged a protest.
"They should try to look deeper into the matter and figure out what exactly the problem is, which is a far more substantial thing to do," he said.
Although the students agreed that demonstrations mostly occurred due to the failing system, Hendri pointed out that the spirited students were often not patient enough to wait for changes.
"They want things to change quickly. They like things done not through an evolution, but in a revolutionary way," he said.