May 18, 2010

Tempo - Military Traces in Tegalboto

The military headed Jember University for two decades. The intention was to absorb campus political upheavals.


THOUSANDS of people thronged the main roads and town square of Jember, East Java. Crowds of demonstrators were yelling “Hang Utrecht!”. In the middle of 1964, they protested against Secretary of the Dean of the Law School of Brawijaya University, Jember Branch, Dr Ernst Utrecht, who instructed the dissolution of the Islamic Students Association (HMI) in his school.

The stance of the chief adviser of the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI) was seen as a way of strengthening the domination of GMNI at the college that was later rechristened Jember University. A senior lecturer of the campus, Sumaryono, 73, related that the mass protest known as the Utrecht Incident was an explosion of the strong friction between students’ organizations. “These organizations were suspicious of each other,” said the 1964 law graduate of Jember University.

Sumaryono indicated that Utrecht was then referred to as an Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) cadre sympathizing with the Indonesian Communist Party. He was even said to be a patron of the leftist Indonesian Students Movement Center. According to Sumaryono, noticing a lecturer like Utrecht, Tawang Alun Foundation as university founder promptly invited soldiers to enter the campus after the September 30, 1965 Movement broke out for the elimination of communist sympathizers.

Tawang Alun Foundation sponsored by Jember Regent R. Soedjarwo set up a private college, Tawang Alun University. In January 1963, Tawang Alun became a state university after being turned into the Jember branch by Brawijaya University. In fact the central government appointed Jember District Military Commander Lt. Col. Winoto as rector, but foundation executives silently urged their member, R. Achmad, to abandon the post of University Presidium Chairman and give up his seat to Winoto.

The removal of Achmad was inseparable from the changing political constellation, when PNI was declining and the army dominating. “Achmad was a PNI member,” said Sumaryono. However, entering the New Order, the military was not leaving Jember University. After Winoto, the campus in Tegalboto was for two decades headed by soldiers: Lt. Col. Soedi Hardjo Hoedojo, Lt. Col. Soetardjo, and Lt. Col. Warsito. “Only Winoto was still active while the other three were retirees,” he added.

The military rectors made little academic change. But in campus political affairs, their moves were very apparent particularly with the introduction of the Campus Normalization policy. They banned the activities of organizations like GMNI and HMI on campus and programs of a political nature. “Students’ activities required the consent of university leaders,” said Assistant Rector for Student Affairs of Jember State University Andang Subahariyanto.

Andang, a 1983 alumnus of Jember University, also remembered how the campus library was rid of books blacklisted by the government, including the works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Arif Wibowo, a GMNI activist now a House member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction, added lecturers once active in both organizations were mostly also removed.

After 20 years under the military, lecturers demanded university management be returned to civilians. “The era has changed and we have also had good human resources with some doctors,” said Sumaryono. Col. Warsito was the last military rector on Jember campus. In 1987, Dr Simanhadi replaced Warsito. Andang noted the numbers of schools and departments had since increased, lecturers sent abroad for studies, and students allowed to discuss latest issues.

Jember was only one of several state campuses with military rectors. Brig. Gen. Eri Soedewo in 1966 was named coordinator of state colleges in East Java. At the same time, he served as Presidium Chairman of Brawijaya University, Malang; Acting Rector and Dean of the Law School of Airlangga University, Surabaya; Presidium Chairman of the Teachers’ Training Institute (IKIP), Malang; and of IKIP Surabaya.

The same was true of Diponegoro University, Semarang. Based on the university’s official website, in 1965 Col. Soewondo held the post of assistant rector for student affairs, in cooperation with Semarang City Military Commander Col. Munadi. They were assigned to sterilize the campus from those seen as having a communist slant.

Historian Asvi Warman Adam recorded the September 30, 1965 incident indeed became soldiers’ entry gate to campuses. “They argued there were many arrests so various campus positions were vacant,” he said. Actually not all soldiers joining campuses were active officers, as some academics also became soldiers after compulsory military training. But they had the same mission. “It was to purge campuses of leftist people,” he added.

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