Thousands Rally in Jakarta on Youth Pledge Day Over Haze and Living Costs

Photo: VulcanSphere, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (file photo of the Selamat Datang Monument at Bundaran HI, where protesters gathered).

Thousands of students and activists rallied at the Bundaran HI traffic circle in central Jakarta on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, under the banner #IndonesiaSadar (“Indonesia, wake up”), protesting the government’s handling of forest-fire haze, rising living costs and corruption, The Straits Times reported. The Jakarta protest coincided with Youth Pledge Day, the anniversary of a 1928 declaration by young nationalists that is a landmark of Indonesian independence history.

What the #IndonesiaSadar protesters want

The student executive body of the University of Indonesia put forward five demands, according to Tempo. The first is that the government declare the forest and peatland fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan a national disaster, a status that would unlock emergency central funding and command. The other demands concern living costs, accountability for corruption and the government’s budget priorities, Tempo reported.

Some protesters carried signs reading “Eat the rich,” AFP reported, aimed at what demonstrators described as officials and businesses profiting while ordinary households struggle.

Police response

About 14,000 police were deployed in the capital, the Jakarta Globe reported, citing AFP. Scuffles broke out in the afternoon, and police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse part of the crowd, according to The Straits Times.

Protests also took place in Yogyakarta, Bandung, Malang and Padang, the Jakarta Globe reported.

The government’s answer

Presidential spokesman Syahganda Nainggolan said the government had deployed more than 70,000 firefighters to fight the blazes, according to The Straits Times. The government has not declared a national disaster, a step it took neither in the record fire year of 2015 nor in 2019.

The fires are an international issue as well. Indonesia and Singapore agreed this week to set up a joint haze task force and hotline, as we report on our Southeast Asia news hub. The forest-monitoring group Nusantara Atlas estimates more than 1.9 million hectares burned between January and September.

The economic backdrop

The International Monetary Fund forecasts Indonesia’s economy will grow 5.1% in 2026, below the government’s 5.4% target, according to IMF data. President Prabowo Subianto, who took office in October 2024, has promised 8% growth by the end of his term and launched costly programs including free school meals.

Indonesia has seen several waves of street protest since Prabowo took office, including large demonstrations in August 2025 over lawmakers’ allowances that turned deadly. Youth Pledge Day, or Sumpah Pemuda, has long been a rallying date for student movements.

What comes next

The fire season usually eases with the onset of the rainy season in November. For more from Indonesia and the region, see our Southeast Asia news hub and our report on the South China Sea incidents affecting neighboring states.

Background: why Youth Pledge Day matters

On Oct. 28, 1928, delegates at the Second Indonesian Youth Congress in Batavia, now Jakarta, pledged to one motherland, one nation and one language, Indonesian. The Sumpah Pemuda is taught in schools as a founding moment of the independence movement, and student groups often choose the date for demonstrations to frame their demands as a continuation of that tradition.

Student protests have shaped Indonesian politics before. Mass demonstrations in 1998 helped end the 32-year rule of President Suharto, and student-led protests in 2019 targeted changes to the anti-corruption agency and the criminal code. In August 2025, protests over lawmakers’ housing allowances spread to several cities and became deadly after a delivery rider was killed by a police vehicle in Jakarta.

Bundaran HI, the roundabout around the Selamat Datang Monument on Jalan M.H. Thamrin, is one of Jakarta’s main gathering points and sits near major hotels, embassies and the city’s business district. Police often close surrounding roads during large demonstrations, and the area is a short walk from the State Palace and government ministries around Merdeka Square, where many marches head.

The forest fires add an environmental dimension to grievances that have more often centered on economics and governance. Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency handles national disaster declarations, which the president must approve.

Related coverage: Indonesia and Singapore agree on a haze task force. Find all of our regional reporting, plus country facts and official resources, on the Southeast Asia news hub.

Sources

• The Straits Times: Thousands of protesters rally in Jakarta against haze, rising living costs
• Tempo: University of Indonesia students’ five demands
• Jakarta Globe: Students stage Youth Pledge Day protests over government policies

Additional sources

• AFP: ‘Eat the rich’: Indonesians protest against graft, wildfires
• IMF: Indonesia country data