The city has been lying in wait over the weekend with the closure of the campuses ending protests for the past three days. The city reverted back to its pre-protest state with police and military moving out of the streets and traffic flowing as it previously had.
The protests have not been forgotten and the drive behind them has not ended. I spent time this weekend talking to different students from some of the involved campuses and things don’t seem to be over. The price hikes are still very much in the forefront of people’s mind and the violence has left open wounds, both literal and figurative, that can not be so easily pushed from minds.
Messages circulated this morning through my circle of contacts that things are expected to start up again this afternoon. No word yet on whether those planned protest have come into fruition.
Scanning various Makassar news sources this morning I came across a hoax put out by HMI (Islamic Student Association). Members of this group have been circulating via social media platforms news that a student died from injuries sustained during one of the demonstrations. The messages urge students and residents to not give up the fight for which the student died and even call for the impeachment of newly elected president Joko Widido.
This group of students is on the more radical end of the spectrum and its important to remember that not all students glorify violence. Many other active students supporting public demonstrations against the price raise condemn the violent acts by their counterparts. What needs to be taken from all of this is that the student population is passionate about an issue and the government needs to start reaching out to them for conversation rather than attempting to silence them. In my opinion the end to the tension can only come once respectful opportunities for dialogue are present.
For now we lay in wait.
The protests have not been forgotten and the drive behind them has not ended. I spent time this weekend talking to different students from some of the involved campuses and things don’t seem to be over. The price hikes are still very much in the forefront of people’s mind and the violence has left open wounds, both literal and figurative, that can not be so easily pushed from minds.
Messages circulated this morning through my circle of contacts that things are expected to start up again this afternoon. No word yet on whether those planned protest have come into fruition.
Scanning various Makassar news sources this morning I came across a hoax put out by HMI (Islamic Student Association). Members of this group have been circulating via social media platforms news that a student died from injuries sustained during one of the demonstrations. The messages urge students and residents to not give up the fight for which the student died and even call for the impeachment of newly elected president Joko Widido.
This group of students is on the more radical end of the spectrum and its important to remember that not all students glorify violence. Many other active students supporting public demonstrations against the price raise condemn the violent acts by their counterparts. What needs to be taken from all of this is that the student population is passionate about an issue and the government needs to start reaching out to them for conversation rather than attempting to silence them. In my opinion the end to the tension can only come once respectful opportunities for dialogue are present.
For now we lay in wait.