While also rejecting the law, the group decried the violence against the protesters, who are mostly students, conducted by police and military, that continues to occur during the demonstrations nationwide.

“This initiative was created based on two purposes; to protect student protesters that reject the law and to reject the passage of the TNI law,” said architect and author Avianti Armand, a cofounder of the movement, during Friday’s protest.

Waves of protests have erupted against the revised law, which expands military roles in the civil administration and has raised concerns about a return to dwifungsi (dual roles), the principle that allowed the military to take on civilian positions and businesses to support the New Order, under former president Soeharto’s authoritarian regime.  

Decades after the fall of Soeharto and the revocation of dwifungsi, the newly amended law seeks to restore the principle and was passed in an accelerated deliberation process.   

Students and activists have taken to the streets not only in big cities in Java like Jakarta and Surabaya, but also smaller ones from Pangkal Pinang in Bangka Belitung Islands to Manokwari in West Papua.   

Online media koreksi.org recorded that protests have erupted in at least 69 cities and regencies since the passage of the law on March 20. Many videos of the protests have been uploaded on social media, showing protesters injured during clashes with police.

No comprehensive record of the number of injured protesters has been compiled so far. But University of Indonesia (UI) protest coordinator Muhammad Fawwas Farhan Farabi said dozens were injured during the protest on March 20 in Jakarta.   

Read also: Enough with police brutality: Activists

In another speech, Melani Budianta, a feminism and culture professor from UI, said she had protested the military’s dwifungsi 27 years ago. She said it was a shame that now that she had grandchildren she still had to mount the same opposition.  

Toward the end of the New Order, Melani and other women activists initiated Suara Ibu Peduli (Mothers’ Voices), a group of women who played a significant role in opposing violence during massive waves of protests in 1998. The movement was launched in support of Maria Katarina Sumarsih, the mother of Atma Jaya University student Bernardinus “Wawan” Realino Norma Irmawan, who was killed in the Semanggi I tragedy.

“If mothers have joined the protests, this means that the situation has become critical,” said philosopher Karlina Supelli on Friday during the protest.

Student protests against the TNI Law continued to erupt in several cities on Thursday, even as people began their mudik (exodus) to their hometowns for Idul Fitri.

In Jakarta, hundreds of protesters rallied around the main gate of the House of Representatives building since late afternoon. Fears about a greater military presence in civilian affairs remained the reason why protesters opposed the new law, “You pass the law, we start the war,” one poster read.

The protesters also condemned the planned revision of the 2002 Police Law. From a draft that was widely circulated on social media last year, the bill contains a provision that would give more space for the police in cyberspace, including wiretapping and secretly intercepting communication devices. Experts have warned that such powers would arm police with a greater degree of impunity.

Police were seen using water cannon to disperse the protesters at around 5:30 p.m. A similar method was used in Surabaya, where university students were also protesting.

Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Susatyo Purnomo Condro said that at least 1,800 combined military and police officers were deployed near the legislative complex. (gmb)