Youth and Campus Activism in Indonesia
Campus activists are among the strongest movement forces of Indonesian politics. Throughout history, they have maintained a critical mass, which enables them to affect change and inspire the greatest reforms within Indonesian government.



Youth and campus activists played a significant role in overthrowing the nationalist regime of President Sukarno in 1965. While still a nascent nation-state at that time, many students were already politically aligned and well aware of the government's abuses to civil liberty. In spite of violent dispersions by the police, student activists and young liberals risked injury and death by taking to the streets to protest the governing autocracy of the time. Their efforts eventually led to the change of leadership they wanted and served as the beacon of hope for Indonesia's future of prosperity and peace.

A mere three years later, however, President Suharto's military regime proved to be equally oppressive as the previous government. Government corruption became even more rampant as staggering economic mismanagement also brought the country further down to economic dislocation. As these develop, the country was leading to socio-political chaos with high inflation rates. Once again, students, youths, and young activists tried to check these abuses by the Suharto government.

Clamping down on freedom, the government enacted the "Campus Normalization Law" which tightened academic and non-academic control over potential student opposition within universities. Between 1990 to 1993, almost 30 years into the Suharto regime, numerous warrants-less arrests were also made to curb youth activism in the country.

In spite of this, the youths continued to discuss opposition within and outside of university campuses. They were also supported by professors and academic fellows sympathetic to their clamor for change. Sticking to the dictum that the young are the torch bearers of freedom, further suppression of civil liberties by the Suharto regime fanned the flames of activism as more students and professors rallied for "Responsible Openness", transparency and justice in governance.

Their efforts led to the creation of the critical mass of events of the reform movement of 1998 and eventually forced President Suharto to step down. With individual liberties restored, liberalism reached its peak with the ouster of Suharto. And Indonesia owes much of its newfound freedom from its young.




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