A student press group in Bandung, West Java, has refused to bow to pressure from an intimidating hard-line group that had dispersed the former’s Sekolah Marx (School of Marx), an event for discussions on Marxism, on May 10.

On that day, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) through intimidation demanded the student press group, Daunjati of the Indonesian Art and Culture Institute (ISBI), end the event.

But on Wednesday the press group concluded School of Marx on its own terms, with a closing ceremony called Panggung Seni untuk Demokrasi (Art Stage for Democracy).

Daunjati chairman Mohamad Chandra Irfan in his speech during the ceremony said that the decision to hold an art stage was far from its initial plans to conclude the event with a class entitled “The Creation of Theatre Based on Karl Marx’s thought”.

“We argued with the university on how to conclude the event. But in the end they gave the go-ahead for us to end the event with the art stage,” Chandra said Wednesday.

He said that in organizing the art stage, the press group had been in cooperation with several university student councils, including from the Bandung Institute of Technology, Langlangbuana University, Bandung Raya University and the Indonesia-America Computer Education Center.

“The change of plans did not mean we finally bowed down to the FPI’s pressure, but serves as a sign of consolidation among university students in Bandung,” Chandra said.

School of Marx began in February, holding a series of discussions on Marxism, such as the Visual Aesthetics Based on Karl Marx’s Thoughts and Stage Art Paradigm According to Karl Marx.

Chandra accused the campus for “bowing to pressure from the FPI by cancelling the last class”. “We try to strengthen the democratic environment of this campus, which has to be free from pressure and intimidation from outsiders, let alone hard-line groups,” he added.

ISBI vice rector for academic and student affairs, Benny Yohanes, denied Chandra’s claim, saying that the university did not back away from supporting the School of Marx event. “We will add this kind of class to the campus’ syllabus, because it could spark creativity among the students,” he said.

Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry spokesperson Munawir Razak said that the ministry had not been in contact with the ISBI regarding the FPI’s intimidation or anything related to the event.

The ministry’s director-general for learning and student affairs, Intan Achmad, could not be reached for comment by The Jakarta Post as of Wednesday night.

This was the third act of intimidation toward an art or academic event in Bandung since the start of the year. In the past 12 months there were at least 15 similar discussions and cultural events opposed by hard-liners.

On March 23, the FPI dispersed a monologue performance about the national hero, Tan Malaka, entitled Saya Rusa Berbulu Merah (I Am A Red-furred Fox), demanding the organizer cancel the performance over fears the show advocated communism. The monologue was presented a day after and secured by 200 Bandung Police personnel.

On May 9, a group named the West Java Islamic Alliance staged a rally in front of the Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University, demanding the campus halt a discussion because it invited Shiite intellectual Jalaludin Rakhmat and Liberal Islam Network (JIL) activist Ulil Absar Abdala as speakers. (mos)

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