The students congregated on Perintis Kemerdekaan Street before the police, who after receiving information from the local residents, reached the location and escorted them to the Cianjur police station.
"They had planned to head to downtown Cianjur to voice their commitment to peace along with students from other schools before continuing their journey to Jakarta," Cianjur Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Juang Andi Priyanto remarked here.
The police had merely recorded their names and sent them back to their respective schools and parents.
"We also summoned schools, parents, and related institutions," he noted.
However, several students admitted to neither being exactly aware of the issues nor the demand in the protest, affirming that they were only yearning for peace to prevail in Indonesia.
Obay Koswara, a 19-year-old student, confirmed their plan to head to Bogor aboard a bus and pickup van and continue the trip to Jakarta by commuter train.
Handi, 17, another student said he had joined the group after receiving information that students in the district will declare a commitment to peace. "It (the information) said we will convey our aspiration, but I do not know what it is. I was only asked to join the group by a friend," he stated.
Earlier, on Wednesday, hundreds of high school students joined the university students' protest and hurled stones at the police, who stood guard at the parliament building complex in Jakarta.
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The demonstrators, claiming to be high school students from Greater Jakarta, pelted stones at security officers from across the street. Some cars, stuck in a traffic snarl at the location, were also struck by the stones.
They joined hundreds of university students, who had gathered on the streets to protest the revisions of several laws, including the one on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and Criminal Code (KUHP).
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) has expressed concern over the involvement of certain high school students in the protests.
"The KPAI has expressed concern over the involvement of children in white and grey uniform (high school students), who had staged a protest in front of the parliament building," Retno Listyarti, a member of the commission for education, noted in a statement here on Wednesday.
Listyarti claimed that the students had highlighted the plan to partake in the demonstration on social media. Most students came from Bekasi, Depok, and North Jakarta.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Ahmad Fikri, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
