Jakarta. Certain groups have been exploiting recent public demonstrations and hijacking their agenda once situations turned anarchistic, an analyst said.

The Head of the National Security Study Center at Bhayangkara University Jakarta Raya, Prof. Hermawan Sulistyo, stated that no organization -- let alone student groups -- would be capable of carrying out anarchic actions such as burning public facilities. Based on his experience, this suggests the involvement of outsiders, often referred to as “fellow travelers.”

“These fellow travelers are not the ones who create the situation, but they take advantage once things heat up,” Hermawan said during a discussion on Beritasatu TV on Tuesday.

According to him, these “hidden passengers” exploit issues circulating on the internet, even though more than 50 percent of the information is false.

“The reports about arson and vandalism are actually used as opportunities to loot. There are even calls such as, ‘let’s go to the house of an official or a celebrity.’ The intensity has instead increased,” he concluded.

It is known that since August 25, the parliamentary complex has been filled with crowds demanding, among other things, the abolition of lavish allowances for members of the House of Representatives (DPR). On August 28, labor unions also held demonstrations demanding an end to outsourcing and rejecting low wages.

Riots then broke out between August 28 and 30 in several regions, prompting President Prabowo Subianto to order security forces to take firm action to restore order. Soldiers and police were deployed to the parliamentary complex to prevent further unrest

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