Dual Function

During Suharto’s New Order dictatorship (1966–1998), the army adopted a wide range of domestic authority and power under the policy of dwifungsi, or “dual function.” With the restoration of democracy, the military was supposed to return to the barracks, but the process was incomplete at best. Currently Prabowo has mused about returning to and expanding dwifungsi.

One area where the TNI might play a role is in delivering the new president’s pet project, free school lunches. While justified as a way to provide proper nutrition and avoid the “stunting” of Indonesian children, the program opens up the possibility of graft at a range of levels. Dark Indonesia protesters fear that the lunch program will serve as a Trojan horse for the TNI to expand its influence around the country.

In keeping with past demonstrations and social movements, Dark Indonesia protesters gathered in front of government buildings in Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and other major cities, but also in smaller towns such as Sukabumi in the mountains of West Java. Leaders gave speeches on loudspeakers, sometimes from atop large trucks. There were scuffles with police, and tires were set on fire. In Makassar, the Islamic Student Association blockaded the Trans-Sulawesi highway, causing a massive traffic jam.

In Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya, police used water cannons on demonstrators carrying flags from Airlangga University, Surabaya State University, Sunan Ampel State Islamic University, and National Development University. In Denpasar, the capital of the tourist destination Bali, students carried banners reading “Education cuts to the core, hope fades,” “Thrift is the root of wealth, efficiency is the root of stupidity,” and “Dark Indonesia Education Emergency.”

Dark Indonesia

The Dark Indonesia movement, led by university students, has a decidedly punk aesthetic and reveals deep feelings of pessimism and cynicism among the country’s youth. Dark Indonesia’s style and message stands in sharp contrast to the message of Prabowo’s dark-horse presidential run. The former general unexpectedly secured around 60 percent of the vote in the first round of elections on February 14, 2024. With this majority, there was no runoff election.

Millennial and Gen Z votes were essential for Prabowo’s success, and he won them over with a dramatic makeover. The man who was kicked out of the Indonesian army and banned from entry into the United States because of multiple allegations of human rights abuses previously ran for election with openly fascist imagery in 2014 before embracing reactionary Islamic politics in 2019. In 2024, however, the accused genocidaire adopted a gemoy (cute and adorable) public image on social media.

Instead of posing with Muslim clerics, his team posted pictures of him in casual sweatshirts, looking like a befuddled grandfather doting on his beloved cat. Instead of riding into rallies on a white horse in front of men in uniform, the septuagenarian did goofy dances to kitschy techno music at events that had family dance-party vibes. The superficial campaign appeared to have won over younger voters.

A year later, this youth movement has a different style. Organized on social media, the university students assembled in all-black clothes, often the only color being their school uniform blazers. Many carried homemade signs with a DIY punk aesthetic.

In Jakarta, one demonstrator held a sign that read “WE ALL GEN Z ARE FOMO F*CKING OFF MONARCHY OPPRESION,” a comment on the dynastic politics and nepotism that led to the son of the previous president illegally becoming Prabowo’s vice president (he was clearly under the minimum age requirement for holding the office). Another held up photos of past president Jokowi and president Prabowo with “the most corrupt leaders.” Others joked that Prabowo’s cat was siding with the protesters.

Musical Resistance

Dark Indonesia’s soundtrack quickly became Sukatani’s “Bayar, Bayar, Bayar” (“Pay, Pay, Pay”). Hailing from a small town in Central Java, the mixed-gender duo are this generation’s iteration of classic punk rebellion. For decades, Indonesia’s punk and hip-hop scenes have harbored resistance to authority.

In an homage to Russia’s Pussy Riot and Ireland’s Kneecap, Sukatani’s guitarist Alectroguy and vocalist Twister Angel always appear in bright balaclavas. They have performed in front of banners that blend the tradition of pioneering English anarchist punk band Crass with references to localized Islamic-Javanese culture. In their performances, their debut May 2024 EP, and their social media presence, they have supported a range of progressive causes, including feminism and anti-racism.

A call and response sing-along, “Pay, Pay, Pay” lists daily encounters with police corruption:

Want to get a driver’s license, pay the police / Get a ticket on the street, pay the police. . . . Go to jail, pay the police / Get out of jail, pay the police. . . .  Want to do corruption, pay the police / Want to evict someone, pay the police / Want to clear the forest, pay the police / Want to be a cop, pay the police.

Dark Indonesia supporters included the song in Instagram and TikTok posts, and it was played on loudspeakers at protests during the week. In Jakarta and elsewhere, demonstrators jeered the police sent to watch over them, with young women singing the lyrics to the officers’ faces.

Evidently this was too much for Polri, the national police force. In a social media post on February 20, the previously anonymous duo revealed their identities as Muhammad Syifa Al Lutfi and Novi Citra Indriyati and expressed their remorse at having offended Polri. In the awkward video, which most would assume to have been made under coercion, they stated that they had pulled the song from Spotify and other platforms and urged their fans not to use it.

Unsurprisingly Dark Indonesia activists responded with an indignant social media backlash. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into what seems to be police intimidation. The ham-fisted censorship might help “Bayar, Bayar, Bayar” become the new “Genger, Genjer” — a song associated with a previous generation’s popular resistance to Indonesian authoritarianism.

With grassroots organizing and sophisticated use of social media, the activists of Dark Indonesia have been able to stage coordinated demonstrations in scores of cities and towns throughout this massive nation-state. More significant, Dark Indonesia has explicitly targeted the corrupt oligarchy.

In terms of the struggle for social justice and significant economic reforms, Dark Indonesia represents an important landmark in popular mobilization. Unlike the massive rallies of the reactionary Islamist 212 Movement in 2016 and 2017, the focus this time is not upon identity politics but rather specific material goals.

Dark Indonesia’s punk attitude also indicates a youth rejection of the cynical “gemoy Prabowo” social media campaign. Instead of savvy marketers pandering to young voters, here we see university students using TikTok and Instagram to challenge socioeconomic injustices. Maybe the kids are alright after all.