‘We all hate you for free’: Indonesians protest against graft, wildfires

JAKARTA, Oct 28 — Hundreds of Indonesians gathered in central Jakarta today to protest against economic hardship, graft and the government’s handling of devastating wildfires causing toxic haze that has sickened thousands.

Many demonstrators held up the three-finger salute of rebellion from dystopian franchise “The Hunger Games”, and waved posters with angry messages such as: “Hungry? Eat the Rich!”

One sign read, “No Clean Air Under Dirty Government”, while another blared, using a pejorative for President Prabowo Subianto: “Hey Wok! Nobody paid us. We all hate you for free.”

Protester Sekar, 37, told AFP her “heart is shattered” by the plight of compatriots battling months of wildfires and haze while also contending with the effects of a weakening currency and higher prices.

“I came here from home with the intention of protecting the students” who called the demonstration, Sekar told AFP.

“I will be looking for any police officers who lay hands on them and take them away, and I will be the first to step forward to defend them.”

Police said about 14,000 of its officers, as well as soldiers, had deployed to keep a lid on the demonstrations.

The protest organising committee, which calls itself SADAR, meaning “aware” in Bahasa Indonesia, said the action was meant to mark a “revolution that is being proclaimed”.

The group is demanding that the government declare a national emergency to unlock more resources to fight wildfires across the vast archipelago.

Deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas says the blazes have destroyed more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September.

‘They cannot breathe’

“Hundreds and thousands of people are suffering” from the fires, said protester Annette Mau, 47, of the Indonesian Mothers’ Alliance, an NGO.

“Tens of thousands of babies are suffering from health problems. They cannot breathe” because of the fires emitting a toxic haze that has spread far across the region.

The pollution has also damaged Indonesia’s relations with its neighbours.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was expected to meet Prabowo in Jakarta today.

The day before, Balakrishnan said the haze was “not a natural phenomenon” and the fires “were caused by human action”.

Annette accused the government of “trying to cover” up the problem rather than address it.

“They’re trying to make excuses,” she said.

“We are being oppressed by the tyrannical regime.”

A statement sent to AFP by protest organisers said that under Prabowo, “the sovereignty of the ruling class takes precedence over the sovereignty of the people”.

“The oligarchy has placed its own interests above those of the people,” it added, pointing to “mismanagement of the debt-burdened economy; environmental and energy exploitation that has triggered an ecological crisis; and the erosion of the rule of law and democracy”.

There were also protests in other cities. — AFP

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雅加达，10 月 28 日——今天，数百名印尼民众聚集在雅加达市中心，抗议经济困境、贪污腐败以及政府对造成有毒烟雾的毁灭性野火的处理不当，这场野火已经导致数千人患病。

许多示威者举起了反乌托邦系列电影《饥饿游戏》中的三指反抗手势，并挥舞着写有愤怒标语的海报，例如：“饿了吗？吃掉富人！”

一块标语牌上写着“肮脏政府，空气污浊”，另一块标语牌则用贬义词称呼总统普拉博沃·苏比安托，上面写着：“嘿，沃克！没人付钱给我们。我们都恨你，而且是免费的。”

37 岁的抗议者塞卡尔告诉法新社，她的同胞们在与数月来的野火和烟雾作斗争的同时，还要应对货币贬值和物价上涨的影响，他们的困境令她“心碎”。

“我从家乡来到这里，是为了保护那些组织示威游行的学生，”塞卡尔告诉法新社。

“我会找到任何对他们动手动脚、把他们带走的警察，我会第一个站出来保护他们。”

警方表示，已部署约 14000 名警员以及士兵来控制示威活动。

抗议组织委员会自称为 SADAR（在印尼语中意为“觉醒”），称此次行动旨在标志着一场“正在宣告的革命”。

该组织要求政府宣布进入国家紧急状态，以便调动更多资源来扑灭这个广袤群岛上的野火。

森林砍伐监测机构 Nusantara Atlas 表示，截至 9 月的九个月里，大火已摧毁超过 190 万公顷的森林。

“他们无法呼吸”

“成千上万的人正在遭受火灾之苦，”来自非政府组织“印尼母亲联盟”的抗议者、47岁的安妮特·毛说道。

“数万名婴儿正遭受健康问题。他们无法呼吸”，这是因为大火产生的有毒烟雾已经扩散到整个地区。

污染也损害了印尼与其邻国的关系。

新加坡外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南预计将于今日在雅加达会见普拉博沃。

前一天，巴拉克里希南表示，雾霾“并非自然现象”，而火灾“是人为造成的”。

安妮特指责政府“试图掩盖”问题，而不是解决问题。

“他们是在找借口，”她说。

“我们正遭受暴政政权的压迫。”

抗议组织者向法新社发表声明称，在普拉博沃的统治下，“统治阶级的主权优先于人民的主权”。

报告还指出，“寡头政治将自身利益置于人民利益之上”，并指出“对负债累累的经济管理不善；对环境和能源的过度开发引发了生态危机；以及法治和民主的侵蚀”。

其他城市也爆发了抗议活动。——法新社

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