Shinta Maharani, Amirullah, Yogyakarta – Dark Indonesia demonstrations were held by the Indonesian diaspora in the cities of Melbourne and Berlin on Saturday March 1. They were protesting the strengthening of militarism under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
The dozen or so protesters, who are students, lecturers, artists and other Indonesians who live in the two countries, stated that the demonstrations are part of global solidarity with the Dark Indonesia protests in Indonesia and to put international pressure on the Prabowo-Gibran administration. Protest have also taken place in the United States and the United Kingdom.
"Indonesia's diaspora in various different countries have not remained silent about the situation in the motherland", Melbourne action coordinator Ulya Niami Jamson told Tempo via WhatsApp on Sunday March 2.
In Melbourne, Australia, the demonstration took place in front of the Victoria State Library at 3-5 pm local time. Meanwhile, the demonstration in Berlin, Germany, took place near the Brandenburg Gate during the day.
The diaspora in Melbourne took up three main issues, namely the retreat of democracy, the return of militarism and economic inequality. The protesters gave speeches, read out poetry, sung and brought posters with protest messages.
Calling themselves Melbourne Bergerak (Melbourne Moves), the alliance of protesters had previously held a demonstration at the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne in 2024. Melbourne Moves is also actively holding routine political classes that teach political education for students and Indonesian citizens in Melbourne.
"The goal is so Indonesians understand and organise resistance to the authoritarianism and exploitation that continues in Indonesia", said Pipin, Jamson's nickname.
Wearing thick jackets because of the winter cold, the protesters in Berlin, Germany, unfurled a huge black banner that read "Dark Indonesia". They also brought posters with messages such as "The police are to protect, not a tool of repression", "Pay-Pay the police, stop militarism" and "Don't criminalise freedom of opinion".
The demonstrators highlighted a number of issues including the militarisation of the government through the placement of retired military offices in the cabinet, the deployment of soldiers the food estate program in Papua and the governments free nutritious meals (MBG) program.
In addition to this, they also protested the increasing role of the Indonesian National Police in politics and business, growing police repression against the public, the budget waste due to the bloated cabinet and environmental destruction.
They also reject restrictions on the freedom of expression of artists and the right to convey an opinion. For example the prohibition of art that contains criticism such as the withdrawal of the song "Pay, Pay, Pay" by the punk group Sukatani, the prohibition on the staging of a theatre performance in Bandung titled "An Interview with Mulyono" (former president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo) and a painting exhibition by artist Yos Suprapto at the National Gallery.
One of the demonstrators, Herlambang Bayu Aji, said that the Indonesian diaspora is demanding that the government to cancel the multi-functional role of the TNI (Indonesian Military) and Polri (Indonesian Police) and revise regulations that threaten freedom of opinion and expression.
The other demands are urging the government to revise regulations that exploit nature, reevaluate problematic government programs such as national strategic projects (PSN), the MBG program and the new capital city (IKN) project in East Kalimantan, as well as evaluating the composition of the cabinet.
Herlambang stated that the demonstrators who joined the rally not only came from Berlin, but from a number of other parts of Germany. Some protesters were students, artists and labourers. "Solidarity continues to strengthen", he said.
The Dark Indonesia demonstrations last week highlighted various problems with the administration of President Prabowo Subianto. Dark Indonesia refers to Indonesian citizen's fear about the future of the nation. Dark Indonesia demonstrations have become a trending topic on social media X since Monday February 17.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demonstrasi Indonesia Gelap di Australia dan Jerman Usung Penolakan Militerisme".]
