Students, lecturers take to the streets across the nation
Students, lecturers take to the streets across the nation
JAKARTA (JP): The number of students protesting skyrocketing prices and demanding political and economic reforms swelled yesterday as more university students and lecturers joined demonstrations across the country.
No serious clashes between protesters and security personnel were recorded.
A small incident, however, took place on Jl. A. Yani in the East Java capital of Surabaya when antiriot police blocked the path of 1,000 Sunan Ampel Islamic Institute students wishing to disperse after staging a peaceful rally at their campus.
Police apparently thought the students were going to march on the street.
A few incensed students threw stones at the security personnel, inciting some officers to attack groups of students.
The institute's chairman of the student senate, Baidowi, quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, ending the short clash.
During the protest at the campus earlier in the day, Baidowi told the crowd: "We'll continue to stage these rallies (started Wednesday) until March 11 to express our concerns."
He was referring to the closing date of the ongoing General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in Jakarta.
Like similar protests at other universities held across the country over the past two weeks, the rally was strongly supported by the school's deans and lecturers.
About 2,000 students from the Airlangga University (Unair) and Dr. Soetomo University (Unitomo) in Surabaya also rallied at their campus grounds yesterday morning.
Unair rector Soedarto told hundreds of demonstrating students that he would take full responsibility over student protests.
"I've told the security apparatus that this demonstration is my full responsibility, and that there's no need for them to interfere," he told the crowd.
Unitomo rector Pontjo Marjadah, accompanied by his staff, led his students' rally yesterday.
Over the past two weeks, students at several universities across the country have rallied on their campus grounds, all calling for lower prices of basic food essentials and accelerated political reforms.
Authorities have banned public gatherings during the MPR's 11- day General Session underway here in Jakarta, but have been tolerant of student protests as long as they have remained on university grounds.
So far, student rallies have taken place in several towns in Java, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi. Seven Unair students have even gone on hunger strikes over the past three days.
Yesterday, over 2,000 students of state-run Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, rallied at their campus.
They called the economic crisis "a catastrophe" and said the government was responsible for the situation.
In Semarang, Central Java, hundreds of Diponegoro University students handed out thousands of packages containing rice, sugar, milk and cooking oil to needy local people yesterday.
Students of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Bandung also handed out commodities yesterday.
While being entertained by musician Harry Roesly, hundreds of Bandung Islamic University (Unisba) and Pasundan University (Unpas) students staged a free speech forum at the latter's campus where they called for reforms.
In Salatiga, Central Java, hundreds of Satya Wacana Christian University students rallied at their campus.
In Jakarta, more than 200 University of Indonesia (UI) students held a discussion on the crisis yesterday.
Earlier, the university students joined with scores of fellow students from two Bandung-based universities, Padjajaran University and the Indonesian Technology Institute, to stage a free speech forum at the UI campus where they urged the government to implement reforms.
Dozens of Institute of Social and Political Science (IISIP) students also staged a two-hour free speech forum here, strongly criticizing the country's leaders and demanding political reform.
Some 10,000 students and lecturers from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and about 600 students at Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Central Java, also staged similar demonstrations.
In Bali, dozens of Udayana University students staged a demonstration in front of the local council's office in Denpasar. They called for political reforms and handed out hundreds of packages of basic foodstuffs to local people.
Commenting on the series of rallies across the country, social observer Hotman Siahaan of Unair said: "It is the echo of society."
"If the country's intellectuals are silent, the hegemony in this country will be complete. Their aspirations should serve as the much-needed flame of truth in this age of darkness," he said.
The continuous student protests have sent a loud and clear message concerning the nation's "moral concerns" over the deepening economic crisis, he said.
He said, however, that street protests were no longer necessary.
"The message of the protests have clearly been sent, with calls for political reform and lower prices of basic essentials, which Senayan seemingly has failed to address," he said, referring to the MPR's General Session. (09/45/43/nur/har/emf/23/26/aan/bsr)