Jakarta – Hundreds of students from a Dark Indonesia protest action were still standing in front of the West Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building in the provincial capital of Bandung on Friday February 21 even though it was raining in the area.
At 6.02 pm the action heated up and demonstrators were seen throwing bottles and stones into the West Java DPRD building area. The protesters also lit firecrackers. Several protesters were also seen committing vandalism by scribbling on the West Java DPRD walls. Not only that, they tried to tear down the building's fence with a rope.
During the action the demonstrators demanded that there be no budget cuts, especially to the education and health sectors.
"We demand the cancellation of the budget efficiency [cuts] to education and healthcare because this budget is the most basic budget. In fact, the government should prioritise the education of a great nation, a developed nation starts from education, not other things", said Abdul, one of the students who participated in the protest.
The protesters also highlighted President Prabowo Subianto's free nutritious meals (MBG) program which they consider inappropriate if it has to be funded by cuts to the education budget. "It's useless if we give nutritious food, but people aren't given [an education]. It's useless", he said.
Dark Indonesia actions have been taking place over past few days in several parts of the country. The demands have been the same ranging from asking for a re-evaluation of the MBG program to criticising the budget efficiency cuts to education and healthcare. (isn/csr)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Indonesia Gelap di Bandung, Massa Lempar Batu dan Petasan".]
