Ujungpandang still tense after students protest
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): The massive student protests against a public transport fare increase which began on Monday and led to three deaths, started to die down yesterday although the situation remains tense.
Smaller groups of students from four private universities were still seen staging sporadic demonstrations, burning tires, and setting up roadblocks. Their protests, however, was not as formidable as on the first day of the protest when 10,000 students took to the streets simultaneously.
Although traffic was still paralyzed in many parts of the city, a number of public transport vehicles, known locally as pete-pete had started to ply some alternative routes. It was the planned increase of the pete-pete fare, from Rp 300 (13 U.S. cents) to Rp 500 (21 cents), that the students were protesting against.
Scores of police and other security officers were still seen guarding the campuses of Hasanuddin University, the Indonesian Moslem University, the Muhammadiyah University and the Alaudin Institute for Islamic Studies.
All of the universities in the city yesterday held a shalat gaib, a special prayer for Syaiful, Sultan and Adnan, the students at the Moslem University who died in police raids on their campus. Syaiful died on Wednesday, while Sultan and Adnan died on Thursday.
A witness said that students panicked when security officers stormed the campus and chased them with rattan sticks. It was during the confusion that the students fell into the Pampang River just behind the campus, and drowned.
The river is about 10 meters wide and does not have strong current, but is very muddy. "All of the other students were in too great a panic to help them," said a resident.
Sultan and Adnan were buried yesterday in Panaikan Cemetery, but only after their bodies were carried in a long procession through some of the jammed city thoroughfares.
Reports of fatalities vary, with some organizations such as the Ujungpandang office of the Indonesian Legal Aid organization saying that six people have died.
There were also reports that some students were shot dead by the military. The local military headquarters, however, has denied this.
The South Sulawesi provincial government has responded to the unrest by declaring on Thursday that it was canceling the Ujungpandang mayor's decree on the fare increase.
Governor Zainal Basri Palaguna, who is currently on haj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, held a meeting with a number of officials in his entourage, including Mayor Malik B. Masry, to discuss the situation. Palaguna conveyed his condolences to the relatives of the three students who died.
In Jakarta, legislators deplored the fatalities in the student protests, warning that harsh action against peaceful demonstrators only worsens such situations.
Oka Mahendra and Sabam Sirait, House members from Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party respectively, called on the students and the authorities in Ujungpandang to avoid violence.
"Security authorities should not overstep their authority in their efforts to restore order," said Oka Mahendra from House Commission II on domestic political affairs.
"If the authorities use violence to put out violence, the result will be predictable."
Meanwhile, House member Sabam Sirait said authorities' harsh action would only heighten political tension in the run-up to the 1997 election.
"The public needs a sense of security," said the House Commission I overseeing defense and security.
Sabam said the root of the problem was the government's inability to organize a transport strategy for the common people which is cheap and reliable.
He pointed out that countries like India and the Philippines do not have oil but have better transport concepts.
In Denpasar, Bali, Armed Forces Chief for General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono said the military would take firm action against anybody found behind the protests.
"We will punish whoever masterminded the protests," he was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday. (20/imn/16/pan)
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