Student Activism and Expression Restrictions
📌 Student involvement in demonstrations stems from anxiety over existing realities such as injustice, economic disparity, high school fees, and unemployment fears.
🚫 The freedom of expression for students is being curtailed, evidenced by actions taken against demonstrators in August–September 2025, including arrests before they reached the protest site.
🏛️ The Ministry of Education issued Circular Letter No. 13 of 2025 prohibiting students from participating in demonstrations, though some, like the SMA Kolonzaga community, publicly rejected this ban.
👮 Legal aid organizations (YLBHI) recorded 960 arrests by September 27, 2025, with 265 being minors and students, facing obstacles in receiving legal counsel.

Historical Context of Student Movements in Indonesia
📜 Student activism is not new; many Indonesian independence figures, such as Soekarno (starting at age 14) and Muhammad Hatta (age 15), began their resistance activities while still students.
💡 Soekarno’s experience living with Cokro Aminoto shows how cadre building and developing critical thinking can effectively start at the student level through exposure to crucial national discussions.
✍️ Female figures like SK Trimurti were also instrumental; she was assigned by Soekarno to write for the anti-colonial magazine *Pikiran Rakyat*.
⚔️ Students were integral to armed struggles, forming groups like the Tentara Republik Indonesia Pelajar (TRIP) and participating in major battles like the Battle of Ambarawa and the Surabaya uprising.

Political Control and Organizational Constraints
📢 Post-1965, student and youth action fronts (like KAPI) were crucial in driving political change by voicing the Tritura (Three Demands of the People) alongside university students.
📉 The New Order regime, viewing pluralistic student organizations as threats to stability, issued Ministerial Decree No. 39 in the 1970s, establishing OSIS (Organization of Intra-School Students) as the sole official student body.
🎭 Since OSIS became mandatory, student activities shifted to ceremonial formats tied to government programs (e.g., Pancasila indoctrination, scouting), effectively banning political street demonstrations.

Targeting of Activists Post-Demonstrations
🚨 Following recent protests, arrests extended beyond demonstrators to activists, such as Del Pedro Marh (Director of Lukataru Foundation), allegedly arrested without formal orders or charges related to inciting protests involving minors.
📱 In Nganjuk, 19-year-old student activist Ahmad Faiz Yusuf was arrested for allegedly spreading incitement on social media, though evidence suggested his posts were made *after* incidents and were intended as solidarity rather than provocation.
⚖️ Activists like Muhammad Fahru Rozi (Paul) faced multiple layered charges, including incitement and complicity in criminal acts, highlighting a pattern of criminalizing dissent rather than investigating the root causes of unrest.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Student concerns regarding injustice and economic insecurity are valid drivers for their participation in public discourse and demonstration.
➡️ The historical success of Indonesian independence movement proves that student input is vital to national democratic progress.
➡️ Authorities must cease obstructing parental access to detained minors and adhere to proper legal procedures when making arrests, ensuring due process is followed instead of defaulting to "securing" individuals without clarity.
➡️ Student voices and experiences must be listened to and acknowledged as rational contributions to democratic life, not dismissed as immature or irrational.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Dec 09, 2025, 11:52 UTC