Editorial: A lesson for students

Sat, 06/28/2008 11:55 AM | Opinion

There was a time when one would muster all his or her courage to join a demonstration. A factory worker would weigh the risk of being photographed by intelligence agents, arrested and marked for life, against his or her assessment that there was no other choice but take to the streets. For the other choice might be to quietly drop dead toiling around the clock, or to let their children starve.

Traditionally, students were always the boldest: young and reckless, they were supposed to be the voice of the poor and the terrified, and shout about rising prices, abuses of power, braving tanks and bullets.

Now in the era of both freedom and apathy, motorists caught in congestion crane their necks to check with exasperation whether another protest is ruining their day.

Despite the need to get the message across, protesters rarely check out the prevailing mood. So only when demonstrators are creative do passersby care to notice what grievance is being raised.

And when protesters are destructive, the backlash is not only apathy, but anger.

The public on Tuesday was presented a grim reality show as they watched the tearing down of part of a fence along one of the city's toll roads and the vandalizing and burning of cars.

People had sympathized with the fact that a student injured in an earlier protest against fuel price increases had died. But the ensuing violence turned off much of this sympathy.

This is no longer a time when masses turn up to distribute free food to protesting students, as they did shortly before the fall of Soeharto. At that time, people would still tolerate damage to public and private facilities if it served to draw international attention to a tyrant who refused to budge. But that was then. Now grievances must be aired, but not to the extent of disrupting those who want to move on.

During Tuesday's demonstration in front of the House of Representatives, protesters destroyed a fence and occupied and vandalized the toll road. Demonstrators in front of Atma Jaya University set fire to a government vehicle and vandalized several other police vehicles.

The protests left at least 18 people injured and caused massive traffic congestion across the city. The police arrested a number of protesters and named at least five suspects over the incident. The National Intelligent Body (BIN) said it had identified several masterminds behind the incident. Reports said not all were positively identified as students.

In a democratic country such as Indonesia, protests are not only legal, but are important instruments of freedom of expression, with or without the classic charges of "masterminds," "provocateurs" and "infiltration."

In the wake of reformasi the police force has received some training in human rights issues and how to better handle demonstrators, as part of an overhaul of their education and training. In line with democratic principles the police were separated from the military and will hopefully be more professional in the years to come.

But while the police are learning, albeit slowly, in regards to demonstrations it seems students have been left behind -- and thus are failing to get support for what may have been well-intentioned plans.

People only complained about the waste of precious money that would have to be spent repairing damaged public facilities and being caught in traffic.

Ahead of the 2009 legislative and presidential elections, student activists will once again be trying to figure out how to carry on the role of mythical young heroes, voicing public concerns, while avoiding unwanted political interests in their midst.

It's a tricky job. They must remember that many people are tired of demonstrations, even though the critics may be forgetting their own young rebellious days.

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