Malang, August 17 2023. Simultaneously with the moment of celebrating the 78th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia's independence, one of the UMM Government Science Study Program lecturers, Mr. Ach. Apriyanto Romadhan, S.IP., M.Sc. examines the issue of public space discourse and its correlation with the essence of independence itself. He conducted this discussion with the students while doing nature tadabbur in the mountainous area, which is of course a form of public space.
According to Mr. Ach. Apriyanto, public space has a close relationship with the meaning of independence. That independence is not only based on struggle through weapons, but also based on debates that take place in public spaces.
"If we look at our national history, especially in the aspect of public discourse, one of which was when there was an ideological debate, for example between religious nationalist groups and secular nationalists, then this is where the result of the opening of the public space itself led to the creation of the Republic of Indonesia," he said.
He also explained that, in principle, in the context of independence, public space is the backbone of democracy so that the life of the nation and state continues. As for the current context of independence, we must open up a lot of public space to discuss various issues of citizenship so that the life of the nation continues.
"So if the public space is closed, then there will be non-public channels that can create a disaster, it can be in the form of violence and so on as a result of the restricted public space," he added.
Finally, he closed the discussion session with a very interesting analogy.
“If the mountain is uprooted, the earth will shake, because mountains are the backbone of the meeting between the earth's crust, so mountains are important so that the earth does not shake. Even so with the context of state life, where public space is very important so that state life continues, of course through discussions on citizenship," he concluded. (van/roz)
