Students rally to protest rising market prices

JAKARTA (JP): More than 1,500 students from two prestigious universities rallied yesterday, protesting the soaring prices of basic commodities and demanding economic and political reform.

Students and alumnae of the University of Indonesia and their counterparts from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, 600 kilometers to the southeast, held the rallies at their respective campuses.

They blasted the government for the economic crisis which they said was the result of a digression from the New Order's founding ideals.

The 500 Jakarta students and former students sang patriotic songs on their campus on Jl. Salemba in Central Jakarta, read out scathing statements, and capped the event with a gesture of scorn toward the New Order administration by covering up with black spray paint a large billboard inscribed: Welcome to the Campus of the struggle for New Order.

In 1966, University of Indonesia students spearheaded rallies that helped topple the Old Order administration under then president Sukarno, and ushered in the New Order administration under President Soeharto.

The 1,100 Yogyakarta students prayed together before marching along the boulevard of their campus, waving placards and unfurling banners that were critical of the government.

The University of Indonesia alumnae said in their statement that in the last few five-year development programs there had been a digression in the orientation and strategies of the national development.

"The alumnae of the University of Indonesia hereby confirm their commitment to be the nation's intellectual citizens who respect their conscience and, together with the people and the Armed Forces, pledge to fight to ease the suffering of the people," the statement said.

In another statement, the protesters accused the government of going against the Constitution and the soul and spirit of democracy. They further charged that the administration had abused people's trust.

"The country's bankruptcy is caused by the misdeeds of the government," they said in the second statement.

Among the alumnae seen mingling with the yellow-jacketed students were former University of Indonesia rector Mahar Mardjono, who is also a member of the presidential team of doctors, and economist Sri-Edi Swasono. The alumnae's statement was read out by the chairman of the alumnae association, Hariadi Darmawan.

"This rally is an expression of the intellectual and moral power of the University of Indonesia," Edi told reporters on the sidelines of the rally.

Both the Jakarta and Yogyakarta students demanded a succession of the national leadership and that the government be held accountable for the current crisis.

Hundreds of police and troops were deployed around the two campuses yesterday. According to Antara, six students were detained after the Jakarta demonstration.

Separately, Cosmas Batubara, a student leader during the uprising in 1966, deplored yesterday the erasing of the inscription on the billboard. He said the gesture could be interpreted as if the students were trying to erase facts from Indonesian history.

"If today's young generation wants to make its own history, they do not need to erase the past," he said. The former cabinet minister said that his generation never scolded older generations the way the students did yesterday.

"We live in a democratic country. Let bygones be bygones," he said, adding that he did not put the blame on the students but on a widening communication gap.

"Today's students need to communicate regularly with their seniors," he said. (23/emf/imn/byg)