Atiek Widyastuti, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of students from various different universities in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta took to the streets once again on Wednesday October 28.
The demonstration coincided with the commemoration of Youth Pledge Day (Hari Sumpah Pemuda).
The Yogyakarta Regional House of Representatives (DPRD DIY) building, the Governor's Office and the Zero Kilometre Point landmark served as the focal points for the protest. Throughout the demonstration, the participants voiced several criticisms regarding government policies.
The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program and forest and land fires (karhutla) remained one of the issues that they articulated.
According to Jogja Calling (Jogja Memanggil) Alliance coordinator Wahid, every public policy enacted by the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka draws a clear separating line.
"The state is not neutral. Rather it sides with a handful of capital owners. Not with the ordinary people or youth", he explained.
Young people are part of the working people who are being squeezed. It is difficult for them to secure decent employment and they're trapped in precarious working conditions.
Furthermore, they are also paid low wages have to bear the rising costs of education.
On the other hand, fulfillment of the people's rights is largely determined by the direction of the state budget (APBN). Since the national budget consists of public funds, every single rupiah must be accounted for to the people.
"And the reality at the moment is in fact wastefulness. Programs lack transparency. The misuse of the budget strips the state of its capacity to fulfill the basic rights of its people", he asserted.
Meanwhile Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University Moving (UMY Bergerak) Alliance general coordinator Arief Syah Hidayatullah revealed that after two years of the Prabowo-Gibran administration, the public oppression has become increasingly apparent.
Initiatives such as the MBG and the Red and White Village Cooperatives (KDMP) programs and the establishment of hundreds of Territorial Development Battalions (BTP) have proven ineffective in addressing the ordinary people's real problems.
"Instead, this has become a new business arena for a corrupt, big-bourgeoisie class. Even extending the domination of militarisation into the very living spaces of villages", he asserted.
Notes
On October 28, 1928, Indonesian students and youth gathered in Jakarta to declare the Youth Pledge – generally accepted as the first open declaration of Indonesian independence – which called for a united independent Indonesia under the theme of "One Nation, One People, One Language". It was the first time that a substantial body of anti-colonial activists committed themselves to an independent united nation with Malay as the national language.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demo Mahasiswa di Jogja Hari Ini: Soroti 2 Tahun Prabowo-Gibran dan Makan Bergizi Gratis".]
