As Mothers Take to the Streets, the Comforter of the Movement to Reject the Revision of the TNI Law

When mothers have taken to the streets, the world is not in a good state. Especially when these mothers are hurt upon seeing their children being beaten, kicked, and stripped by the police while voicing their aspirations.

On Saturday afternoon (28/3/2025), a group of women dressed in white was seen gathering at a corner of the sidewalk in front of Sarinah Mall, Jakarta. Both the elderly and the young gathered together. Not far away, several men in brown uniforms were seen standing guard alongside some casually dressed men with handheld radios tucked into their bags.

Approaching 2:00 PM WIB, the number of mothers gathering continued to grow. Despite their differences in age, they were united by a common purpose: holding a peaceful demonstration titled "Action of the Voice of Indonesian Mothers Movement." Several sheets of paper they carried also conveyed the messages of their gathering. The writings included, "children should be independent and find their own jobs," "rulers, you have betrayed the motherland," "you can't even function properly, let alone take on dual functions," and "the people are beaten while the rulers celebrate birthdays."

The decision of the mothers to take to the streets was driven by sadness and concern because Indonesia is deemed no longer capable of providing a future for their children. They see that the future has been taken by the elites through unscrupulous means to perpetuate their power.

What is even more heartbreaking is when their children voice their aspirations on the streets due to the lack of opportunities for dialogue with the authorities, only to be met with batons, mistreatment, searches, and threats from security forces. This was evident at least during the past week, as young people in various regions held demonstrations to reject the revision of the Military Law.

Mothers are unwilling to accept that children living in Indonesia lose their humanity, justice, civility, and freedom of speech. Moreover, they are confronted with the barrels of guns and military boots while fighting for democracy in this country.

"We are very angry because many of our children were beaten by the authorities. They (the authorities) receive their salaries from the people, they are entrusted with weapons, so they should not act repressively," said one of the representatives of the mothers, who is also a Human Rights (HAM) activist, Ririn Sefsani.

Despite being angry that children, students, and young people are being violently repressed, the mothers will instead ask all mothers to push their children to the streets. Because, there, their future must be fought for after being snatched away by a handful of parties who want to make power theirs.

"We, Mothers of Indonesia, will accompany their struggle by taking to the streets, fighting with our children, against corrupt power," read the statement of the mothers which was read together in the peaceful action.

On that occasion, academic from the University of Indonesia Sulistyowati Irianto said, women are always present in every moment of the struggle of the Indonesian Nation. One of them was in the 1998 Reformation, women also took a role, including by taking to the streets.

Likewise today, when young Indonesians in various places take to the streets to reclaim their constitutional rights, women will be there too. Sulistyowati sees that at this time, history feels like it is repeating itself because the oligarchy has created its own laws, while the aspirations of the people, young people, and the press, are silenced.

"Indonesia belongs to the young people who fight for Indonesia in the future," he said.

Indonesia belongs to the young people who fight for Indonesia in the future.

In her speech, Nur Suci Amalia Putri from the Mahardika Women's Organization said, from her experience when taking to the streets, demonstrating peacefully in front of the DPR building, including during the demonstration on Thursday (3/27/2025) yesterday, the government and the DPR turned a deaf ear. The actions carried out in various regions did not move the government at all to meet them.

According to Suci, the chaos that occurred in several actions was not the will of the demonstrators. However, from the experience of several violent incidents that occurred, the police did not seem to hesitate to use repressive methods, including against women.

"Now, women are not free from violence by the authorities. So, there is no other way for us to equip ourselves with personal protective equipment because we know that the authorities are already systematically designed to carry out repressive actions," said Suci.

Aida Leonardo from Gerakan Nurani Bangsa of the Driyarkara School of Philosophy, expressed her gratitude for the initiative of the mothers who took to the streets. For her, the presence and voices of the mothers showed concern and a willingness to listen.

It is a consolation when at the same time the government does not want to listen to the voice of the people. Instead of being heard, they actually get violence, threats, and persecution.

"Does the government intend to listen to us? Do they intend to include us? The tacit ratification of the TNI Law has proven that they don't care," Aida said.

In the peaceful action, the mothers also demanded that the police stop violence against students or those demonstrating. The mothers also demanded that the revision of the TNI Law be canceled and the military be returned to its main task, namely defending the country.

Instead of prohibiting, mothers actually ask mothers in Indonesia to encourage their children to take to the streets. Because, if this situation is allowed to continue, their future is at stake.

One thing that has happened is the proliferation of nepotism with the term "insider" to be able to occupy a position or enter a certain group. This is considered to have hampered the future of many young people who have achieved.

"All mothers, let's take to the streets together for consolidation. Let's take care of our children to keep our country democratic, where the country advances human resources with education, health, not just distributing food," said Ririn in her speech.

Once again, when mothers take to the streets, it is a sign that the world is not okay.