UGM Students Reveal Trigger for Storming Discussion Stage with Budiman and Others

A mass action by Gadjah Mada University (UGM) students stormed the stage of a discussion event at the GIK Joglo, UGM, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Monday evening (15/6). The forum, titled ‘Pancasila Unites the Indonesian Nation’, featured Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency Nusron Wahid, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono, and Head of the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency Budiman Sudjatmiko.

The UGM Student Union (SEMA UGM), via its official Instagram account, shared an official statement regarding the collective action. The statement explained that the trigger for storming the podium was a remark by the three speakers challenging the audience to ‘criticise directly, not on social media’.

SEMA UGM reminded that the public is already restless over the current state of affairs. ‘If the government continues to seize justice and let people’s stomachs go hungry, do not blame the public when this patience runs out,’ the statement read. The students argued that the officials were unfit to speak about Pancasila values while society is suffocated by the state’s handling of various problems. They accused the government of turning a deaf ear to public demands that have already spilled onto the streets, and of silencing, criminalising, and dismissing the people’s voice.

The students contended that the values of justice, humanity and welfare are not aligned with a government they accuse of squandering state funds on useless overseas visits and implementing policies that fail to address root problems while draining the state budget. They questioned whom the regime truly serves: the ideals of Pancasila or the ambition to rule. The students assessed that the government is facing serious problems in state governance and called for fundamental change. They also questioned the relevance of national unity narratives when critical voices are routinely ignored, highlighting unresolved agrarian conflicts, a lack of transparency, and austerity policies imposed on the public amid alleged elite extravagance.

During the forum, several students managed to pose direct questions to Nusron Wahid and Sudaryono regarding their respective responsibilities for the country’s current condition. Separately, Budiman Sudjatmiko expressed regret that the discussion had to be cut short after the situation inside the venue became heated. He stated he was willing to continue dialogue with the students, but security personnel evacuated him due to concerns over escalating tensions.

Sudaryono asserted that he and Nusron Wahid had come to the campus to engage in open dialogue in a forum planned and permitted by the university. He said the speakers had opened space for questions and criticism from the start, but after 30 to 40 minutes, a group of participants wanted the event halted, making the situation unconducive even though most students wished to continue. He denied allegations that he and Nusron fled, explaining that they were evacuated by security after water was thrown and alleged physical contact occurred. Sudaryono claimed they later sat cross-legged on the asphalt to continue dialogue with students who had blocked their car, and he pledged to verify the agrarian and eviction issues raised.