Unhas Denies TNI 'Hijacked' FIB Orientation, Says Pangdam Visit Was Official
The circulation of information on social media regarding the alleged hijacking of the Introduction to Campus Life for New Students (PKKMB) procession at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) of Hasanuddin University (Unhas) by the TNI on Wednesday (12/8) was immediately responded to by the campus.
Both institutions asserted that the presence of Pangdam XIV/Hasanuddin, Major General TNI Bangun Nawoko, was part of an official invitation from Unhas to deliver a public lecture on national insight and state defence to new students.
The clarification was made following the viral narrative that the FIB PKKMB committee was unaware of the Pangdam’s arrival, causing the event, originally planned to end at 16.00 WITA, to be extended until 17.10 WITA.
The Chair of the FIB Unhas PKKMB Committee, Rezky Ramadhani SS MLitt, acknowledged that the committee received sudden information about the Pangdam’s arrival after being contacted by university leadership, when the series of events was nearly complete and participants were about to be dismissed.
“This activity was not in the rundown. So we were immediately called by the leadership, saying the Pangdam wanted to come,” he explained after the event.
Rezky also revealed that the committee received protests from exhausted new students, but still had to continue the activity because they were following the leadership’s direction. The agenda change was also accompanied by the takeover of the operator to display a video of the Pangdam on the videotron.
Unhas Denies
However, Unhas, through the Head of the Sub-Directorate of Public Relations and Documentation, Ishaq Rahman, denied the narrative as “disinformation and negative framing” deliberately spread by irresponsible parties.
According to Unhas’s official explanation, Pangdam XIV/Hasanuddin was originally scheduled to attend on 11 August 2026, coinciding with the first day of Unhas PKKMB. Due to unavoidable commitments, his presence was postponed and communicated to university leadership to attend on 12 August 2026.
FIB was chosen as the visit location because it has the second-largest number of new students of all faculties at Unhas. In addition, the condition of the GOR JK Arenatorium was deemed suitable for the presence of the Pangdam and his entourage.
“Unhas asserts that the plan for the Pangdam’s arrival had been communicated to FIB leadership, so the narrative that the committee was unaware of the Pangdam’s arrival is untrue,” Ishaq stressed.
The activity with the South Sulawesi Pangdam lasted approximately one hour and proceeded in an orderly, safe, and smooth manner.
Pangdam XIV/Hasanuddin, Major General Bangun Nawoko, delivered material that motivated students with a patriotic and spirited style, and opened space for dialogue and discussion.
Unhas also denied information about new students fainting during the material presentation. Although some students were unwell due to being unfit given that the faculty PKKMB activities had started at 08.00 in the morning, the committee had prepared a Medical Team to handle such matters.
Regarding the narrative of the GOR doors being closed and guarded by officers, Unhas called it a hoax. TNI personnel accompanying the Pangdam only carried out security as is customary for visits by senior military officials in the regions, and did not intervene in the implementation of PKKMB.
Officially, Unhas denied the narrative that the Pangdam’s presence at PKKMB was a form of militarism. “Unhas as a higher education institution and the TNI as a state defence institution always synergise to support nationalism within the framework of unity and integrity,” Ishaq asserted.
In line with Unhas, the Head of Information for Kodam XIV/Hasanuddin, Colonel Arm Andi Akbar, also urged the public not to be easily influenced by video clips or narratives circulating on social media without understanding the full context of the activity.
“The TNI respects the academic/campus environment as a centre of civilisation,” he concluded.