Danu Damarjati, Jakarta – The phenomenon of the military entering campuses has become of public concern lately. Now it is the turn of the University of Indonesia (UI) campus to be visited by "soldiers". Previously however, there were other campuses that had already felt the development of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) presence on campus.
On March 5 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) titled "Synergy in the Fields of Education, Culture, Science and Technology" was signed between the Udayana University (Unud) in Bali and the Indonesian Army (TNI AD).
Unud Chancellor I Ketut Sudarsana and Udayana/IX Regional Military Command (Kodam) commander (Kapendam) Colonel Agung Udayana have both dismissed concerns over military intervention in the academic domain.
The Unud Student Executive Council (BEM) however responded strongly to the MoU between the campus and the TNI saying the agreement threatens the independence of educational institutions.
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute military observer Made Supriatma believes that the recently enacted revisions to the TNI Law (UU TNI) are being used as a justification and following this the TNI has begun entering civil space through various kinds of collaboration, including with campuses. He is concerned about the psychological impact of the phenomenon.
"They are intimidating, they have the ability to intimidate, and the Indonesian people feel that the military is superior to civilians because they carry arms", said Supriatma. "So the most obvious consequence I think is that campuses could then be controlled more by the power of violence than the power of thought", he said.
On April 14 an individual believed to be an intelligence officer attended a student discussion held next to Auditorium 2 on the Walisongo State Islamic University (UIN) Campus 3 in Semarang, Central Java.
The student discussion titled Fascism Threatens Campus: The Shadow of the Military for Academic Freedom was organised by the Walisongo Student Study Group (KSMW) and the Social Theory and Practice Forum (FTPS).
As reported by Kompas.com, the discussion was attended by an unidentified man, who sat down and took part in the discussion.
KSMW Chancellor Ryan Wisnal said that the man's presence surprised the participants. Then, two more men, one of whom was a uniformed TNI member, appeared at the discussion. The uniformed man asked the identity of the discussion participants and the topic being discussed.
It was later discovered that the man in uniform was Sergeant First Class Rokiman, a village supervisory non-commissioned officer (Babinsa) at the Tambak Aji Village from the Ngaliyan Sub-District Military Command (Koramil).
TNI Headquarters (Mabes TNI) has given assurances that it has no interest in interfering in internal campus affairs, including discussions held by students. This was emphasised by TNI Information Centre Head (Kapuspen) Brigadier General Kristomei Sianturi.
"The TNI very much respects academic freedom in educational environments and has no interest in interfering in internal campus affairs", Sianturi told journalists on Thursday April 17.
According to Semarang Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) activists Cornelius Gea, similar phenomena have also occurred in Jepara, Pekalongan, and in Tegal. He said that cases of monitoring and intimidation increased after the wave of protests rejecting the Draft Law on the TNI (RUU TNI) in March.
"Not only were action participants visited, but also their families. So intel [intelligence officers] from the police, the TNI, even ormas [mass or social organisations] went to the homes of action participants to ask about the existence of the protesters", said Gea.
In the latest news, the phenomenon of the military entered campuses occurred at UI, a large campus located in the city of Depok, West Java, south of Jakarta.
Viral news circulated on social media about the presence of a number of TNI members in and around the UI Student Activity Centre (Pusgiwa) area, who were reportedly monitored the event on Wednesday April 16 at 11 pm.
That evening, students were holding a national consolidation of students at the UI Pusgiwa. The parties present were representatives of various campuses and other student organisations from all across Indonesia. They were discussing national issues.
The director of UI public relations, Arie Afriansyah, stated that the UI rectorate never invited the military to attend the student consolidation at the Pusgiwa.
"Regarding this matter, the UI rectorate never invited the military to attend or take part in the student consolidation event held at the Pusgiwa", Afriansyah told Kompas on Friday April 18.
"UI respects all student activities that take place on campus. Moreover, the activity had already obtained permission", said Afriansyah.
In general, the TNI says that there has been no intimidation that was carried out by the institution against campus student activities. Collaboration between the TNI and campuses has been going on for some time. There was no state order for the TNI to monitor campuses.
"There been no order. Campus cooperation with the TNI has often been carried out", Sianturi told Kompas on Friday. "There's been no intimidation. Campus are a strategic partner", he added.
Recently, the issue of the return of ABRI's (now the TNI) dwi-fungsi (dual socio-political role) that it enjoyed under the New Order dictatorship of former president Suharto has indeed been of concern to many people. The momentum for this was during widespread protests against the RUU TNI in March. Sianturi says this has nothing to do with the TNI Law. "Yeah, no [it isn't related to the TNI Law], okay", he said.
- Amnesty says TNI intimidation of student forum threat to freedom of assembly. Viva – April 16, 2025
- Students, activists speak out on dangers of the TNI re-entering campus. Tempo – April 6, 2025
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Fenomena Tentara Masuk Kampus Jadi Sorotan, dari Udayana hingga UI".]
