By James Balowski
In the midst of mass arrests, and the disappearance and killing of scores of pro-democracy activists in Indonesia, anti-Suharto demonstrations continue to escalate. Ignoring threats by the military — who have also pleaded for "dialogue" — Indonesian university and high-school students are now taking their protests to the streets.
An April 3 report in the Jakarta daily Kompas of demonstrations by thousands of students at the Gajah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, gives a sense of the defiance. "Security forces were guarding the streets around the campus. The clash followed a call by the leader of the demonstration to 'go forward two steps'. When the ... students' position came up against the security forces, there was an order to 'go forward four steps'." The following day, Kompas said that six student had been arrested and 14 others were missing.
Kompas also reported clashes at the Yogyakarta Islamic Religious State Institute (IAIN) in which, according to the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Foundation, 53 students were injured.
Both clashes occurred when the students tried to break through police barricades set up to prevent the protesters from marching to the local parliament. Although the IAIN students were able to force their way out of the campus, the streets surrounding the university were so tightly guarded they were forced to return to the campus.
Kompas quoted the Yogyakarta military commander, Colonel Djoko Santosa, as saying the "demonstration at UGM was no longer responding purely to the economic crisis ... because during the demonstration, Fretilin flags and East Timor independence banners were displayed". Self-determination for East Timor, abolishing repressive political laws and the dual social and political role of the military — demands first popularised by the banned People's Democratic Party — have been taken up in many recent student demonstrations.
Clashes are also continuing at universities in Jakarta. At a demonstration in Purwokerto, Central Java, students were beaten with clubs but security personal were unable to prevent them leaving the campus. In Pontianak, West Kalimantan, around 200 students from the Tanjungpura University held a "long march" to the local parliament. Parliamentary representatives refused to meet with them and they were "escorted" back to campus under heavy guard.
Students also demonstrated in Padang, West Sumatra, and Ujung Padang, South Sulawesi. At the Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, around 3000 students demonstrated. Demonstrations have continued in Lampung, South Sumatra; Solo, Central Java and Surabaya, East Java.