VIVAnews – 30 years ago today, on 18 January 1978, the Indonesian Armed Forces launched the “Operation Lightning” to suppress students’ movement.
Despite two-thirds of the voters still favoring Golkar in 1977 elections, the popularity of Soeharto and his regime among the masses has markedly declined. There was a strong and growing opposition against him, especially among the elites and the middle class.
Just months after the elections, a number of students began their campaign to prevent Soeharto from being reelected by the MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly) in its 1978 General Session.
Since mid-1977, there was a growing number of protests and demonstrations among the Indonesian students. Nearly all universities, both state-owned and private, participated in anti-government protests.
From 24 - 27 October 1977, 68 student councils from all over Indonesia attended a meeting at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The meeting urged the MPR to hold a special session and impeach Soeharto for his failure to uphold Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.
A few days later, students from various universities held massive protests against the government during the celebration of the Heroes Day on 10 November 1977. On 12 December 1977, A.H. Nasution, former commander of the armed forces, criticized Soeharto during an Islamic demonstration in Jakarta.
By January 1978, the protest movements against the government were getting bigger and wider. On 14 January 1978, ITB published a White Book that deeply criticized the government. Two days later, around 3000 students gathered at ITB and announce a political statement. The statement stressed that ITB students did not trust Soeharto anymore and did not desire him to be reelected as the president of Indonesia.
A day later Kopkamtib (the Operational Command for Restoration of Security and Order), a special army division, decided to launch an operation to stop further movements.
On 18 January 1978, Kopkamtib officially launched its secret operation called “Operation Lightning” (Operasi Kilat). Its objective was to arrest all student leaders, prevent the press from entering the universities, and temporary suspended certain “pro-student” newspapers.
No less than 2,000 soldiers were sent to Bandung to put down the students movement. By 20 January 1978, a number of activists were already arrested by the security forces. A few days later, the army entered the universities in Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Yogyakarta, and began restoring order.
In all, the Lightning Operation succeeded in putting down the student movements. In West Java alone, 68 student activists were arrested including Rizal Ramli, Al Hilal Hamdi, Heri Akhmadi, and Mohammad Iqbal (all of whom later become top government officials and politicians).
By the end of February 1978, after a month-long operation, the Indonesian student movement of 1978 was finally brought to end.
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