Islamic Students Protest Against Fuel Price Hike

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) -- Hundreds of Islamic students staged a rally outside the Surabaya City Hall on Tuesday to protest against the fuel price hike. During the rally, the students, who claimed to be members of the Surabaya chapter of the Indonesian Islamic Students Association (PMII), set fire to used tires to demonstrate their protest against the fuel price hike. The demonstrators in the tightly-guarded rally also urged the Surabaya city government to support their opposition to the subsidized fuel price hike. "We urge Madame Risa (Tri Rismaharini, the mayor of Surabaya) to support our aspirations to reject the fuel price hike," chief of the Surabaya chapter of the PMII, Ahmad Zainudin, said. On November 17, the government announced the fuel price hikes, raising the price of subsidized gasoline to Rp8.5 thousand from Rp6.5 thousand per liter and that of subsidized diesel oil to Rp7.5 thousand from Rp5.5 thousand per liter. (*) Reported by Abdul Hakim