Universities deny radicalization among students

Universities deny radicalization among students

By Haryoso and Prapti Widinugraheni

JAKARTA (JP): The top administrators of Indonesia's leading universities appealed to the government to ease control over campuses, and personally assured that official concern about the radicalization of students was unfounded.

Students critical of the government should not be viewed as rebels because their opinions contribute to the government's decision making process, Muhammad Budyatna from the University of Indonesia said.

The dean of the university's School of Social and Political Science said that some students may be considered "leftists" and "radical" by the government, but their idealist criticism is often more helpful than harmful.

"Their criticism does not necessarily have to be what you would call constructive -- otherwise it wouldn't be called criticism -- but as long as they do it in a good manner, I don't see what the problem is," he told The Jakarta Post.

"After all, the government is human and its policies may contain flaws here and there. It wouldn't hurt to be criticized to improve and correct things."

Radicalization

Coordinating Minister of Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman said last month that the government noted an increased "radicalization" on the country's university campuses. He was also concerned that students tended to invite people critical of the government to speak at campus seminars.

Budyatna said he was not against "vocal" speakers at student seminars but always asked his students to have speakers with different views to balance the talk. "This is to avoid students getting indoctrinated by only one paradigm."

He acknowledged that students are now more critical than they were in the late 1970's and the 1980's when their actions were damned by the government's Normalization of Campus Life/Student Coordinating Board. The concept limited students to studying political theory while barring them from indulging in politics. The highly unpopular policy was abolished in 1990.

"Now I see the critical attitude which existed at the beginning of the New Order slowly reemerging," Budyatna said, referring to the popular term for President Soeharto's administration which came to power in 1968.

Budyatna said talks are important because students need a chance to speak up. "I think that given the opportunity, misunderstandings can be resolved ... If this is not allowed, it can become a potential time bomb," he warned.

Nurdien H.K. and Ridwan Widyadharma of Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, said students should be critical of the government, especially if government policies harm the public.

Nurdien, from the School of Letters, said both students and lecturers should be committed to act and speak critically and consciously about the injustices they see. "Of course, the criticism should be rational, comprehensive and contain a solution. It shouldn't only be emotional."

He warned, however, that some students might be using campuses only as a step to gaining a career in the Indonesian bureaucracy. "It would be a pity if they use their bureaucratic positions in the future to exploit the people whom they once defended."

Ridwan, a political lecturer, said universities and students are currently undergoing a "very serious political crisis", because there is minimal dynamism on campuses.

Campuses should not be sterilized from political activities. They should be a place where future political leaders are groomed, he said.

Attitude

Affan Gaffar, a political lecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said not all students had the same political attitude. Much depend on the campus' bureaucracy and the students themselves.

"I see that student activists are experiencing a social deprivation. Their political, economic and social expectations -- which is actually what the New Order is all about -- do not match, and are even drifting further away."

Affan said an atmosphere of open dialog is needed to bring together students, who see themselves as carrying a "social mission", and the government.

"This is a difficult problem that we haven't managed to solve because, as we can see, students can only criticize the government by risking pressure," he said.

Affan said the students' actions have not reached a stage that endanger security and cause public disorder. "They only want a change -- a better condition," he asserted.