Jakarta [Indonesia], September 2 : Indonesian police fired tear gas at crowds of protesters near two universities in Bandung on Tuesday, amid continuing nationwide demonstrations over government spending and the death of a motorcycle taxi driver struck by a police vehicle, Al Jazeera reported.
According to Al Jazeera, security forces deployed tear gas outside the Islamic University of Bandung (UNISBA) and nearby Pasundan University, about 140 km west of Jakarta. Pasundan student Muhammad Ilham said, "There was a student who got hit by the rubber bullet, two shots," adding that tear gas canisters were also fired from outside the campus gates.
At least eight people have died since the protests erupted last week, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said. Police official Hendra Rochmawan stated that authorities had not entered the campuses but sought to disperse non-student protesters taking shelter there.
UNISBA rector Harits Nu'man confirmed that the campus was being used as a medical hub for the injured. However, the UNISBA student body accused security forces of seeking to suppress dissent, saying they "brutally attacked" the campus as tear gas caused breathing problems for students, Al Jazeera reported.
In central Jakarta, Al Jazeera's Jessica Washington reported that thousands of motorbike taxi drivers gathered to honour the 21-year-old driver killed by an armoured police vehicle. "They say to demonstrate the power of peaceful assembly so they can honour their colleague, that they can call for their various demands, including economic inequality and do it peacefully," she said.
Al Jazeera further reported that civil society groups raised alarm over the arrest of a civil society leader in Jakarta late Monday. A coalition of women's groups also planned to stage demonstrations outside parliament on Tuesday.
The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) said at least 20 protesters had gone missing in Bandung, Depok, and several districts of Jakarta since the unrest began.
University students, historically seen as drivers of Indonesia's democracy, have played a central role in the protests, reminiscent of the 1998 movement that toppled President Soeharto. Current President Prabowo Subianto, a former military leader under Soeharto, faces his first major test as he engages with labour unions pushing for higher wages, Al Jazeera reported.
On social media, Indonesians have turned their profile pictures pink and green under the hashtag #ResetIndonesia to amplify demands for reform.
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