Pandi Ramedhan, Tri Susanto Setiawan, Jakarta – A protest by students from the State University of Jakarta (UNJ) on Jalan Pemuda in East Jakarta turned chaotic when demonstrators set tyres on fire on Thursday October 22.
The protesters set fire to the tyres at around 4.40 pm. However this was immediately responded to by police officers stationed at the scene.
Several police personnel attempted to extinguish the flames but the student protesters tried to intervene, leading to a brief scuffle between the officers and the students.
The tire-burning incident was short-lived, as the police quickly put out the fire using portable fire extinguishers (APAR).
Meanwhile, traffic in the area was slightly disrupted by the protest. Nevertheless, some passing motorists were seen honking their horns in support of the UNJ students' demonstration.
Positive response from public
As observed by Kompas.com at 4:40 pm, student protesters remained on Jalan Pemuda to deliver speeches.
The demonstrators criticised the first two years of the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The issues highlighted included the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program and the handling of forest and land fires (karhutla).
The protesters also held long march using a command vehicle to broadcast speeches as they moved along the road.
The action drew the attention of local residents, particularly motorists passing along Jalan Pemuda. Many drivers honked their horns to show their support for the UNJ students as they voiced their aspirations.
According to one of the speakers, the UNJ students deliberately chose to hold a long march on a public road because they wanted to invite the public to participate in expressing their aspirations.
"We intentionally took to the streets, not going to the DPR [House of Representatives], but to the streets near our campus because we no longer trust the government. We took to the streets to invite the public to participate", said the speaker.
The following are the demands presented by UNJ students on the failures of the Indonesian government:
1. Declare the forest and land fires a national-scale disaster.
2. Conduct a thorough investigation to uncover the masterminds behind the forest and land fires in Kalimantan.
3. Fully restore education funding.
4. Correct the pervasive expansion of militaristic power.
5. Evaluate the ballooning budget for the MBG program.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demo Mahasiswa UNJ di Jalan Pemuda Ricuh, Massa Bakar Ban dan Polisi Turun Tangan".]
