The official response to August's protests shows how Indonesia’s small but active anarchist community has become the go-to bogeyman for governments seeking to justify crackdowns. The scapegoating of anarchists has meanwhile undermined the unity and political impact of anti-oligarchic protest movements.

September 2025 became a month of an Asian spring. After Indonesia, the people of Nepal rose up in mass spontaneous protests, followed by anti-corruption riots in the Philippines. In the wake of these uprisings, governments have initiated a “black scare” aimed at targeting “anarchists” regardless of actual political or ‘anti-political’ orientation. Configured by Trump, Prabowo, and many others, the spectre of anarchy strikes fear into the hearts of all rulers.

#We Are All Puppeteers: 42 People from Anti-Authoritarian Networks Named as Suspects After Demonstrations #bubarkanDPR (abolish parliament)

From August 25 to September 5, Indonesia was a sea of fire. A wave of simultaneous demonstrations ended in street battles, the burning of government buildings and police stations, and the looting of politicians’ homes. A total of 3,195 people were detained in various locations during this period. This does not include subsequent arrests.

As part of post-demonstration operations, the police investigated and arrested activists, administrators of social movement social media accounts, and influencers. They got enough spotlight, plus the support they deserve. But at the same time—at the grassroots level—dozens or perhaps hundreds of people were arrested, beaten, cut off from communication with their families, and denied legal assistance from the Lembaga Bantuan Hukum — LBH (Legal Aid Institute). Some of them were reported by local media, but most remained silent: they suddenly disappeared and the entire movement immediately went “underground,” and was overcome with paranoia.

Our fears are well-founded. We know that the state can be the perpetuator of human rights violations and terrorism. We have collective memories of 1965 killings, disappearances of activists in 1998, the Killing of the Human Rights activist, Munir, of everything bad that happens to people who dare to fight. Who would dare to deny that the same thing will not happen again today?

Finally, on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the West Java Regional Police held a press conference announcing 42 suspects involved in acts of vandalism in Bandung. However, they were all the result of a nationwide investigation and arrests carried out as far as Jombang and Makassar. They were accused of being anarchists.

During the press conference, the West Java Regional Police revealed that anarchist groups were involved in acts of vandalism, incitement to violence, distribution of materials on how to assemble Molotov cocktails, and fundraising/management of funds from international anarchist organizations amounting to 1 billion Indonesian rupiah (60,795 USD).

We are not denying these accusations. We are simply highlighting how the government is trying to convince the public that the wave of mass unrest is not entirely due to popular anger. The government always thinks in a puppeteer-centric logic: believing that everything is centrally mobilized by a handful of intellectual actors. Some think this is orchestrated by the political opposition, which is impossible considering Prabowo’s solid coalition that embraces the entirety of the predatory elites. Some accuse this of being orchestrated by foreign minions financed from abroad. Some conspire about military intelligence work. Or, 42 anarchists orchestrated the riots.

Let’s say that the accusations about anarchists are true. Even so, the government is still looking for a scapegoat while underestimating the public’s reasoning. They think that if thousands of Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) members, thousands of anarchists, or foreign agents, or the opposition are arrested, then millions of other Indonesians, such as Ojol (motorcycle taxi drivers), students, university students, and housewives, will not carry sticks, throw stones, and prepare glass bottles filled with gasoline? Our government is not stupid. They deliberately deny it and say, “everything is fine.” They are afraid to admit that the people, that is, all of us, are the puppeteers.

We are all puppeteers. This insurrection is the most magnificent political performance we have ever staged. Our story is a script that has yet to be written. Our dialogue begins with the words, “Cukup!” (Enough!), and ends with “Merdeka 100%” (100% Independence). Our role is to be protagonists in our own liberation.

In a short time, the insurrection will subside, the fire will die out, and the smoke will be blown away by the wind. The buildings of the parliaments (DPR) will be rebuilt even stronger, the post-insurrection military budget will skyrocket, but the forests of Indigenous peoples will continue to be cleared, workers will still enjoy low wages, and the one percent—the ruling class—will continue to benefit from this exploitative system.

Let us organize again, join labor unions, organize community forums, and student alliances. Let us read and discuss, hold educational classes, recruitment, and regeneration (kaderisasi). Show that prisons do not scare us.

The Serikat Tahanan (Prisoners’ Union) is a collective of anti-authoritarian prisoners. We organize primarily inside, but also outside prisons throughout Indonesia, to reach out to fellow anti-authoritarian activists who have been imprisoned and to educate the public about prison conditions in Indonesia. This initiative, driven by prisoners, began as a simple act of solidarity among us—to nurture hope—so that we do not feel marginalized or leave prison as people are more broken than before. By organizing, we are constantly reminded of why we began our struggle. Reach out to us for more information https://sociabuzz.com/serikattahanan.

To suppress the rebellion, the government manipulated the weather by causing artificial rain.6 We also experienced simultaneous disruptions on social media and suspected government interference with Meta. There were no power outages, only signal disruptions at the demonstration site. Nearly a dozen civilians have died, four when the House of Representatives (DPR) building burned down, and six others due to police violence, such as being run over by armored vehicles, police beatings, and tear gas. This wave, unlike previous ones, was very violent and claimed far more lives. The initiative for the demonstrations no longer came from the consolidation of formal organizations like student organizations and labor unions, but instead emerged organically from the general public. This is progress. In the past, it had been difficult for ordinary people to participate in demonstrations because they were suspected of not being part of an official labor organization or student body if they were not wearing alma mater jackets. Furthermore, support for violent actions has increased, whereas in the past, we anarchists were always scapegoated and blamed by society, the press, and the government.

The protests de-escalated on September 3, 2025, due to calls from a group of liberal influencers who argued that the violent demonstrations were a government plot to pave the way for martial law. We believe this analysis is problematic, flawed, and overthinking. The government would suffer significant political and economic losses from the imposition of martial law, so it was an option they were desperate to avoid. However, the calls to halt the protests proved to be very influential, as their followers opposed calls for action in various regions.

Read for more.

A silent police operation against the anarchist network is underway ✌️✌️ ==////====

Just got an update from Bandung city, West Java, Indonesia. Around 40 anarchists suspects have already been arrested. Almost all of them are part of anarchist network. The police are trying to find out who is handling the funding and the social media admins connected to network. They will arrest people known to be linked with those social media admins. The West Java Regional Police sweep is not limited to that area. They have already carried out sweeps outside their juridiction as well. Some have already been arrested in Makassar, eastern Indonesia and East Java too.

Almost all LBH (Legal Aid Institute) offices under National Legal Aid Foundation - YLBHI are not being given access to provide legal assistance. The police will appoint special legal counsel which relate to police.

The ideas written here are not to be considered as an solution but as a reminder and starting point. Next few days are unpredictable so we must be adaptive to not loose the gains of this revolution.

The governemnt has fallen, people have died, Now comes the hard part. How do we not repeat the history ?

some thoughts from us

This two days will go down in world history. Nearly all the ministry have been burned, including the parliament.

It can be made again. But we can not let Military completely take control or Rajabadi come back to power

1. The interim government should do the next election as soon as possible.

2. No politicians with any history of corruption should be allowed to stand.

3. Prime minister should be elected by the people

4. Property of oli, deuba and other corrupt politics should be taken and used to rebuilt the damaged infrastructure.

5. National consensus should happen for people to choose punishment for the criminals and which laws they want implemented.

6. Strict laws against any form of corruption should be implemented.

7. September 8 should be considered national mourning day for the martyrs and a holiday.

8. Families to the martyrs should get life time support.

9. No person above 60 can run for prime minister or president.

10. Monarchy, military, rabi Lamichhane or balen is not our option.

11. Corrupt politicians will want to take advantage of this situation.

12. We should not stop protesting but burning down buildings can stop now.

@black_book_distro @instagram

[2025-09-09]

Update from Nepal Genz Protest:

Key Demands: Stand against Corruption, Governance and Free Speech, However international media is focusing only on social media bans.

1. Police have been brutal and open fired targeting GenZ/ students in their head and chest who were protesting silently yesterday, until last report: 19 killed and more than 50 are in critical treatment and many injured.

2. Government has lifted the social media ban last night

3. The Home Minister resigned last night, and few other Ministers from the Coalition Government representing Nepali Congress- biggest party with 89 Seats. KP Sharma Oli Prime Minister of Nepal is leading the Government Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) second biggest party 78 seats

4. Curfew has been imposed in major cities of Nepal since yesterday afternoon, Youths and people are continuing protests all over Nepal defying curfew orders and calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli after killing of innocent students

5. House of Sher Bahadur Deuba ( former Prime Minister) and President of Nepali Congress- biggest party has been attacked today morning by youth in Kathmandu

6. House of Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda ( former Prime Minister) and Chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has been attacked today morning. He is the leader of the Opposition Party

7. Police offices and offices of the different political parties have been torched by GenZ all over Nepal.

8. Exact number is yet to come, we have heard lots of gun fire were there. Also the permission was for rubber bullet but armed pokice forced used the real one.

9. They killed minor, with a school uniform with a real bullet in head and chest directly. This was not just for defense. This is extensive use of force.

10. Today there is also protest happening in some places, but the large area of kathamndu municipality is been curfewed since yesterday.

Nepal is under a Political Crisis. The situation in Nepal for a few days is uncertain. We tragically lost innocent lives who were exercising their democratic rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. Currently we need support from international news and medias, they are falsely writing the protest for social media ban, but it is against the corruption.

Debates on anti-militarism continue to shake the anarchist movement in the western part of the world. Often in these debates we can see some organisations from Ukraine or Russia show support for the ‘no war but class war’ position. Three and a half years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the anarchist movement is extremely divided. Previous strategies of ‘listening to local voices’ have mostly failed for those who were not interested in the first place. With more scandals certain to come in the future, it’s important to understand how we came to this point.

What types of groups have been involved in the uprising? And to what extent are they unified?

There are many organizations, networks, and groups formulating demands. One could say that each city even has its own unique demands.

Generally there are two “revolutionary” demands: the first from the socialist party of Indonesia, Perserikatan Sosialis (PS), and the other, a loose, informal, and decentralized network that issued the Declaration of the Indonesian Federalist Revolution 2025, which calls for the dissolution of the unitary state and the DPR (Indonesia’s House of Representatives) system and its replacement with a Democratic Confederalism of thousands of people’s councils for the implementation of direct democracy. Ahmad Sahroni, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the National Democratic (NasDem) Party, called these demands “stupid.” This resulted in his house in North Jakarta being attacked and looted on August 30.

Insurrectionary anarchists, individualists, and post-leftists focus on attacks and street clashes, calling for the destruction of the state and capitalism, but without bothering with a platform or a program of demands that simply calls for the reform of what already exists.

Generally, there is no united front, but we avoid excessive ideological sectarianism.

Unfortunately, there are also progressive liberals with more reformist demands, such as the 17+8 demand (a “pro-democracy” activist slogan calling for reformist demands to be met by September 5, 2025). This group is highly influenced by liberal online influencers urging the protests to stop. These influencers have gone so far as to claim that the protesters will be responsible if the military declares martial law due to the resistance demonstrated in the streets (typical recuperative centrist gaslighting and demonization of revolutionary resistance and organizations). Fortunately, all the left-wing and anarchist elements agree that the protests should escalate. We don’t know what will happen yet, as this discourse war is still ongoing.

Honestly, there are too many groups involved in the uprising to offer a simple answer. The entire left-wing and anarchist movements from various organizations took to the streets, but there was no united front. In each city, progressive elements of society, whether university students, labor unions, or even schoolchildren, consolidated their actions. Some actions were organic and emerged as uncoordinated community initiatives, such as the attacks on police posts and stations, in which several of them were burned.

How are anarchists contributing to the uprising?

I’m a revolutionary pessimist, influenced by the discourse of anarcho-nihilism. But I still advocate social revolution because there is no empty social space. Indonesia is the most multicultural archipelago in the world, with thousands of ethnicities and languages. A discourse of separatism is surfacing in some regions. Some nobles from ancient monarchies are pushing for revivalism. There are also authoritarian Islamic fundamentalists and jihadists who want a caliphate in the country. So I think it’s impossible for revolutionaries not to offer their program as an alternative to all these bad possibilities. The wave of rebellion is a symptom of the impending great division, and anarchists must take a role. Otherwise, the choices are bad. Very, very bad.

What do you think will come of this uprising? And what do you see for the future of the anarchist movement in Indonesia?

I’m pessimistic about this. We’ve established ourselves in several cities, but we’re relatively weak overall, even though we’re fundamentally quite militant.

We’re influenced by the Uruguayan approach of Espesifismo, which involves two-tier organizing. This means that in addition to joining political organizations, we also join grassroots organizations like labor unions, student organizations, indigenous organizations, and so on.

We still use the classic definition of revolution, but this requires a strong people’s organizational base to make it happen. Despite this, the recent uprisings have been repeating themselves like a routine cycle since 2019. This excites us because it means we must push ourselves to keep pace with the popular uprisings and the will of the masses. But we must grow and increase our militancy to remain relevant with the pace of people’s rage.

I don’t believe there will be reform unless there is a violent overthrow of power and the incumbent promises reform. The current ruling class has formed a bloated coalition that embraces all of its former opposition and “gives them a piece of the pie.” So far, we are the only members of the informal, decentralized anti-authoritarian network calling for the president and vice president to be removed. The problem is, there hasn’t been any demand for their removal. So, reform will still take time, and an anarchist revolution is impossible due to organizational weaknesses and the absence of progressive labor unions capable of leading a national strike.

However, the people’s organic demand to dissolve parliament through the hashtag #bubarkanDPR [“disband the DPR”], the involvement of a more diverse mass of people in the protests (Indonesia is known for romanticizing student vanguardism in 1965 and 1998), and the use of violence, represent progress that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Anarchists have played a crucial role in this. Still, I personally don’t think the anarchist movement will lead to an anarchist revolution, even if the opportunity exists. But it could exert a huge libertarian influence through a united front working within established groups. For example, the proposal for a revolutionary democratic confederalism, which is actually in line with classical anarchist proposals, would likely be accepted by the entire spectrum of the existing left and separatist national liberation movements in some regions. Maybe.

The 2020 protests against the Omnibus Law were also significant, but this year’s uprising is the bloodiest, the most devastating, and the most engaging (we saw a significant amount of radicalization among elements of society). It still hasn’t surpassed the escalation seen during the fall of Suharto’s militaristic regime in 1998. However, I’m confident that could happen soon.

Unfortunately, I’ve been warning since yesterday that when the awaited moment arrives, we won’t be ready for revolution, even though we will respond mainly by participating in street battles.

What are ways people outside Indonesia can act in solidarity?

Demonstrating outside of embassies is one way people can show their support. Additionally, funding for anti-repression efforts is and will continue to be critical. The FireFund for the Indonesian Safe House Network is an active project that donors from abroad can give to. The project helps with the procurement of safe houses for revolutionary individuals and offers financial support to individuals facing repression, to political prisoners, and to prisoner unions.

This interview was conducted in 2023 by Forum voor Georganiseerd Anarchisme, a platform in the Netherlands that aims to establish a specific organised anarchist organisation called Organisatie v. Vrij Socialisme inspired by the plaformist and especifismo tradition. The aim of the interview was threefold: to establish closer ties with organised anarchists in Indonesia; to inform people about the Indonesian anarchist movement and its history; and to raise awareness of it.

Since the 25th until today, the resistance against authorities in Indonesia has been escalating. This is not something that happened suddenly, but rather an explosion from within each individual who feels alienated and deprived—both of their rights and the surrounding nature—over the course of many years. Many people have not only witnessed but have also directly experienced this deprivation.

This anger has grown even more as people witness the chaos, especially seeing the widespread resistance in various cities across Indonesia over the past few days. The anger intensified further after the confirmation that 10 people had lost their lives.

The government has attempted to suppress this anger through various means, such as deploying the military and paramilitary forces, kidnapping activists, and conducting cyber operations to control the situation. All of these actions represent repressive measures against the ongoing resistance.

Therefore, this call for international solidarity aims to spread the spirit of resistance from Indonesia to the outside world, so that everyone understands that this resistance is not limited to Indonesia but has spread far and wide, like a rhizome. Every form of support, no matter how small, is incredibly meaningful to us here.

Long Live Anarchy!

News from Indonesia. 25th August and continuing….

Angry youth uprising triggered by rising taxes for public and repressive military. There’s no organisation, the insurrection is being spearheaded by young anarchist, nihilists and uncontrollables. Many young anarchists from high school students association are arrested. The high schoolers are the energy. Around 400 of them were arrested on 25th August according to reports. Most of the action coordinated live on social media. Usually some liberal union or opposition party controls the narratives but not this time. Even mainstream media acknowledge that social media is the source of the documentation. Politicians cannot control the narratives any longer. It’s been a tradition for decades that executive student bodies normally are stewards for these kind of demos, but each year these brokers are getting outed. By the students themselves. That’s why NGOs, unions, “civil anarchists” and students associations of left and right hate the anti-organisational faction.

Fuck them all. We provoke the youngsters to act for themselves.Individuals are no longer spooked by ideological duty, norms and all those extrenal values…

Last night, 28th August, police killed one dead. Nationwide riot against the tax rise. In several cities the riot was organic and self-organised. The police public image continues to crumble, as the peoplke supports the rioters. Cells coordinated other things and most nihilist-insurrectionary announcement are quite dominating the narrative. Anonymous instagram social media accounts with thousands of followers calling for anti-political insurgency. Everyday they make good calls and explanations.

The union brokers announced they would be on the streets and “there will be no riot”, but the youngsters and rioters mock them right away on social media. We give it up to the youngsters. we can only stimulate them to be more uncontrollable. At the night, the internet went to shit. While “civil anarchist” calling for people’s council we call for fuck everything. Only providing networking coordination and street action technical facts. We never really organise people.

Friday 29th August. Basically anarchists control the narrative. People responding to the nationwide call to attack the police station and the police themselves. Attack the government and the mass-media lost control of the information and news.

Our network keep calling for revenge since the police murder last night and its getting hotter. The cells are in the streets.

You can see the uprising on various news though all the good videos only on social medias.

From the Archipelago of Fire.

Jakarta Under Siege

August 25th, 2025. Jakarta no longer belongs to the rotten elites. Thousands from every corner of the land storm the capital. This is not just a protest- it’s a collective eruption of rage against rising housing taxes, endless corruption, and the military-police dogs of the state.

From dawn til midnight, the streets turn into a battlefield of defiance. Screams, fire and stones become the people’s language of fury.

This is not some puppet show of the elites- this is raw anger, untamed, leaderless and impossible to control.