BANDUNG, unpas.ac.id – Commander of Mahawarman Student’s Regiment (Komandan Resimen Mahasiswa, Danmenwa) as well as Rector of Universitas Pasundan Prof. Dr. Ir. H. Eddy Jusuf Sp, M.Si., M.Kom., IPU becomes the speaker on the webinar held by Mahawarman Student’s Regiment Kompi BS Polteksos Bandung, on Sunday, 12 September 2021.
The event which brought the theme of “Meningkatkan Fungsi Menwa Sebagai Insan Kampus dalam Implementasi Tridharma Perguruan Tinggi” was held by all members of Menwa from various universities in West Java and public.
Regarding the theme, West Java Mahawarman Danmenwa presented few materials related to the function of Menwa in the society and implementation of University Tri Dharma. He thought, if we take a look back on the history since Menwa has been established in 1959, it had a function of power in defending NKRI as the actualization of People’s Defence and Security System (Sistem Pertahanan dan Keamanan Rakyat Semesta, Sihankamrata). Also, Menwa is one of Student Community Units which has the important role in each department to actualize character building and nation insight.
“If we take a look on the current condition in West Java, especially those which have 378 private universities and 14 state universities, they should better have a Student Regiment since it takes the main important role; although it also depends on each university’s policy,” he said.
The existence of Menwa in the university or campus forms the units which are parts of campus organization/community and have rights and responsibility under the supervision of the Rectorate office in each university.
The formulation of Menwa was also strengthened by various regulations and decrees, including Article 27 Paragraph 3 of the 1945 Constitution concerning the Obligations of Every Citizen in Efforts to Defend the State, Article 30 paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution concerning HANKAMNEG Efforts Implemented Through SISHANKAMRATA, and Law Number 3 of 2002 concerning National Defence.
“The establishment of Menwa was certainly strengthened by the existence of a basis, both laws and several decisions. Currently, the most recent ones such as Law Number 23 of 2019 concerning Management of National Resources for National Defence which is even more explicit in it mentions the arrangement of supporting components, the formation of reserve components, and strengthening of the main components,” he described.
Therefore, Menwa as supporting component in national defence has the important task in the society in actualizing protection and security. Also, it has the main role of helping the implementation of national defence awareness in the university.
“Seeing the task of Menwa, it also has functional task of being students who not only have the awareness in national defence, but also noble character, responsible and able to provide contribution as well as benefits to the society,” he confirmed.
Facing the era of disruption, West Java Mahawarman Danmenwa also said the awareness of defending the nation and nationalism was also the precise subject to be trained and developed properly, since it held the key to strengthen the relation between community, religion, culture and region.
“The era of disruption and globalization allows various things changed rapidly, especially those related to technological advances that are changing the global order. Therefore, strengthening of state defence and nationalism needs to be improved in line with the progress of the times, especially for the younger generation,” he said.
Having been mentioned about the event theme, he also said about the relation between Menwa’s role as one of campus institutions in implementing University Tri Dharma and the regulation of Indonesian Kemendikbudristekdikti regarding the program of Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM).
“Of nine Forms of Learning Activities (Bentuk Kegiatan Belajar, BKP) of MBKM, one of which is Defending the Nation or Military Service. If it is related to the role of Menwa, it provides opportunities for students to follow,” he said.
Apart from that, he also stated implementations of MBKM also targeted various activities which are related to the role and function of Menwa in the society, such as community service.
“Other than defending the nation/ military service, Menwa certainly has role associated directly to the society. If it is related to the other BKPs, Menwa is able to join other programs, such thematic field study, humanity project or research and so on; since it has been trained and provided by skills to contribute in the society,” he concluded. (Rico B)*