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UGM censors campus press article on agrarian conflict involving sultanate family members
The censored article is a report on agrarian conflict in Yogyakarta, which mentions the members of the family of the sultanate.
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Over 8,000 new students of the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta form UGM's symbol on Aug. 12, 2017. (Courtesy of Gadjah Mada University/file)
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adjah Mada University's (UGM) rectorate has forced Balairung student magazine to remove a report on agrarian conflict entitled “Fighting Against Deprivation, Seize Rights on Land”, meaning the magazine must be reprinted.
The censored article is a report on agrarian conflict in Yogyakarta, which mentions the members of the family of the sultanate.
The article mentions that the royal houses, Kraton Yogyakarta and Pakualaman, are trying to take over all land in the province that has not been registered with certificates of land ownership.
“In the end we feel forced to fulfill the campus’ demand so that we can still distribute this magazine,” the editorial said on balairungpress.com on Sunday.
The editorial explained that there were two negotiations concerning the content that the campus considered needed to be changed or erased. After the negotiation was reached, the magazine had to be reprinted despite 4,000 copies of the magazine being printed.
The censored parts were two main reports as well as an almamater rubric that was considered to be “unfit for today’s mass psychology”. Content depicting an illustration for the main report of the Yogyakarta Sultanate's symbol was also erased.
The first page of the magazine depicted a photo of UGM students' demonstration on Nov. 29, 2018, to find justice for Agni, a student who was a victim of alleged sexual assault. The photo was replaced with another one about student action. A slogan “welcoming ordinary students to an ordinary campus” was also revised.
UGM spokesperson Iva Ariani said that UGM was investigating the case.
“I think this is a communication problem,” she told The Jakarta Post.
