Esti Widiyana, Surabaya – The Airlangga University (Unair) Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Student Executive Council (BEM) criticised the inauguration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka in a satirical congratulatory flower board. This however turned into a polemic and three BEM management board members were suspended.
The flower board criticising the 8th president of Indonesia also resulted in FISIP BEM President Unair Tuffahati Ulamyah Bachtiar and several other BEM management board members being intimidated. But not from within the campus, but from outside.
"From outside there was several (incidents of intimidation). By unknown people, yes. I haven't been able to map it out exactly, around five people reported it. All BEM administrators", Bachtiar said when speaking with Detik Jatim (East Java) following a meeting with the Unair FISIP dean at campus B on Monday October 28.
Bachtiar explained that there were various kinds of intimidation, both by contacting them personally as well as through social media.
"The forms of intimidation that were received by other comrades were perhaps different. For me it was by telephone, video calls, spam chat, DM Instagram and so on. In the case of WA [WhatsApp] there were four or five [different] numbers", she explained.
"The narration that was delivered is more or less the same. Jokowi's [former President Joko Widodo] program [were good], threatening, nasty prayers. There were many people who attacked me personally, on IG [Instagram] it was public and could be read by anyone", she added.
Despite the intimidation, Bachtiar has not remained silent and has consulted with the Surabaya Legal Aid Foundation (LBH). "In the end I consulted with the LBH to follow it up. I asked for a consultation on what action I need to take next", she said.
Bachtiar asserted that she is not afraid of the intimidation. For her, it had no effect on her or other FISIP BEM members.
"Yesterday we decided that if someone was attacked by an unknown person or by a disruptive number, convey it to us as the BPH [executive board]. We will help through LBH and Airlangga Help Centre consultations. If it leads to verbal harassment, we will report to the PPKS [Sexual Violence Prevention and Handling] Task Force", she concluded.
Notes
The flower board, which was placed in the Unair FISIP West Park on Tuesday October 22, read "Congratulations on the inauguration of the ruthless human rights violator general and the 2.3 IPK [Cumulative Achievement Index] Professor, as President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, who were born from the womb of an unlawful constitution", referring to human rights violations committed by Prabowo when he served in the military, Gibran's lower-second class university undergraduate score and the October 2023 Constitutional Court's ruling that allowed Gibran to run as a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
The board also had a photo of Prabowo with the caption "TNI [Indonesian Military] General Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (Head of the Rose Team)" and a photo of Gibran with the caption "Fufufafa Admin", referring to a special team formed by then Lieutenant General Prabowo under the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) tasked with abducting pro-democracy activists in 1997-98 and the Fufufafa social media account allegedly belonging to Gibran which described Prabowo as a "sacked soldier" and a "divorcee" with a "effeminate son" and "radical supporters".
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Presiden BEM FISIP Unair Dapat Intimidasi Usai Kritik Prabowo-Gibran".]
