“WE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM”
A state-affiliated rights group said on Wednesday that at least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured during the protests, while another NGO has said at least 20 people were missing.
The protests have eased, and Prabowo, who had called for calm, left late on Tuesday to attend a massive military parade in Beijing after earlier delaying the trip.
Prabowo had stayed behind to deal with the demonstrations after saying that some of the protesters’ actions were “leaning towards treason and terrorism”.
Mutiara Ika Pratiwi, from the women’s rights group Perempuan Mahardhika, said she was “devastated” that Prabowo had described the protests in such a way.
“The people are not the problem. We have the right to protest because our voice has never been heard,” she told AFP.
“This is beyond resentment, this is compassion that evolves and becomes the symbol of resistance,” Pratiwi said of the pink-and-green movement.
“CRUCIAL PILLAR”
Muhammad Dwiki Mahendra, 27, joined the movement from Germany, where he is undertaking a Master’s degree in peace and conflict studies.
“I believe this is a crucial pillar in countering the narrative often used by the government, which views community movements as being manipulated by foreign forces,” he told AFP.
He said the government’s public communications had been poor and had “not answered or addressed the existing issues at all”.
Only then would change be possible, say adherents of the pink-and-green movement.
“I can feel that we are not alone, when I see others use the same filter, I feel joyful,” said Sphatika Winursita, a 25-year-old from Banten province west of Jakarta who changed her Instagram profile on Monday.
“I’m proud that we have each other to fight for our dream.”
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