The TNI Phenomenon Enters Campus, Relives New Order Patterns

Protesters are holding posters during the action in front of the Pancasila gate, the DPR Building, Jakarta, Thursday (20/3/2025). (ANTARA/Fakhri Hermansyah/nym)

JAKARTA The presence of the military or the National Army (TNI) in the academic room has become a polemic. The presence of the TNI on campus is considered to be a terror and intimidation for campus criticality.

The TNI's actions to come to campus have recently been in the public spotlight, especially after the revision of the TNI Law were approved by the DPR RI. According to media monitoring, TNI officials visited several student consolidation events on a number of campuses, including UIN Walisongo Semarang and Universitas Indonesia.

What is even more surprising is that Udayana University is known to have collaborated with the TNI. The agreement was signed by the Chancellor of Udayana University I Ketut Sudarsana and the Commander of Kodam IX/Udayana, Muhammad Zamroni, on behalf of the Army Chief of Staff on March 5 in Denpasar.

In this collaboration, there is one point that is in the spotlight, namely Article 8 which requires Udayana University students to take part in education and training to defend the country to 'instill the values of national insight and love for the country.'

The presence of the TNI on campuses, according to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mendikti Saintek) Brian Yuliarto, is normal. He said, universities need to be open to any party, including the TNI. The context is to do research, innovation, and cooperation.

"So once again in that context, of course, the Ministry of Education and Technology said that the campus was an open place, because with openness to the cooperation of various parties, the problems for innovation research have become wider," Brian said, as quoted by Antara.

Can Be Terror And Intimidation

The attitude of Minister of Education and Technology, Saintek Brian Yuliarto, who seemed to be teaching the TNI phenomenon to enter campus, immediately became the spotlight. Many parties regretted that the statement came out of the Ministry of Education and Technology, one of which was the National Coordinator of Indonesian Education Monitoring (JPPI) Ubaid Matraji.

He admitted that he was disappointed with the statement of the Minister of Education and Technology, Saintek Brian. According to him, the minister should have understood that the presence of the TNI on campus could be terror and intimidation for campus criticalism. He is also worried that later the TNI can be appointed as rector.

"This is very possible, especially since public participation is closed tightly for matters related to the TNI. The TNI's permission to go to campus raises some basic questions and potential impacts that need to be considered carefully," said Ubaid.

He continued, the main task of the TNI should be to maintain state sovereignty and territorial integrity. When TNI personnel are deployed to teach on campus, this can shift focus and resources from their main duties.

And, although TNI members have expertise in certain fields, such as leadership, strategy, and defending the country, they do not have pedagogical competence and deep scientific substance in accordance with academic standards in various disciplines.

Because, according to Ubaid, an effective teaching and learning process requires special expertise in delivering materials, facilitating discussions, and evaluating student understanding.

Thousands of Udayana University students gathered at the Udayana University Auditorium, Jimbaran Campus, Badung Regency, Tuesday (8/4/2025) to have a dialogue with the Udayana University rectorate regarding cooperation with Kodam IX/Udayana. (ANTARA/Rolandus Nampu).

Contrary to Democracy

The TNI phenomenon of entering campus is also like reminiscent of the New Order era when President Suharto came to power. This was revealed by Senior Imparsial Researcher and Head of the Al Araf Centra Initiative.

He said the TNI phenomenon of entering campus was a repeat of what had happened during the New Order era. The military has entered the campus area that occurred in the 1970-1980 era, with the entry of the aerospace to the ITB campus.

With the return of the TNI to campus, this indicates a decline in democracy that is increasingly real, especially the setback of Indonesia's defense governance.

"So the entry of the military into campus shows the old pattern of living again in today's era, where they are also included in the academic freedom area," said Al Araf, quoting Kompas.

"So this is a bad precedent and backwards us in the context of defense governance where the military re-enters the campus area," Al Araf added.

According to him, the TNI acted excessively by going to campus because the campus had academic freedom and the presence of the military in the room was deemed inappropriate.

This TNI action can also be read as a form of intimidation against students. In addition, according to Al Araf, the TNI's phenomenon of entering campus cannot be separated from the critical attitude of recent students who held the action of the Dark Indonesia to the rejection of the revision of the TNI Law.

"(The critical student) In the issue of Dark Indonesia, in the issue of rejecting the TNI Law so that it is considered a problem and must be monitored. For me this is clearly a serious matter and is contrary to civil and democratic freedom, especially in the context of academic freedom," he concluded.