Jakarta – Students in Greater Bandung held a demonstration in front of the West Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building on Monday afternoon June 15. The protesters conveyed a number of demands related to current social conditions and government policies.
One of the representatives of the protesters, Abdurrahman Muhammad Abdul Malik Albarakati, from the Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung State Islamic University (UIN), said that their presence at the West Java DPRD was to convey the people's aspirations which so far have not received any attention.
"This action is not just the student movement, but rather a form of public unrest against injustice and actions which we consider to be a form of arbitrariness by the current government", he told reporters.
The students highlighted a number of issues, starting with the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, the Red and White Village Cooperatives program, to the use of the state budget. They also touched on expenses for official trips abroad which they consider need to be reevaluated.
"Stop wasting the budget on overseas visits", he said.
Abdurrahman explained that the demands brought by the protesters stemmed from the desire to push for more fundamental changes in the administration's governance.
According to Abdurrahman, similar actions will continue to be held if the demands conveyed do not receive a response.
"If the government does not respond to these demands, we will continue to voice our aspirations. We are not only conveying our demands, but have also drafted studies and offer solutions to the various problems we have highlighted", he said.
He added that the wave of student actions that previously took place in various regions have not produced a response that is considered adequate.
Therefore, taking to the streets is considered a measure that still needs to be taken after various communication efforts have been made.
"We see that various student actions that have been carried out previously, both in Jakarta and Bandung, have not received an adequate response from the government. Therefore, we consider that taking to the streets is one of the last steps that students can take after various attempts at dialogue and audiences have not resulted in concrete action", said Abdurrahman. (team/isn)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Deret Tuntutan Demo Mahasiswa di Bandung".]
