Annual braw;s a tradition for UKI, YAI students
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
It doesn't take ideological differences for students of the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI) and YAI Persada Indonesia University to attack each others campuses and be engaged in, often, brutal brawls.
"It can start from a simple thing like if a male YAI student makes a pass at a female UKI student, or a male YAI student accidentally brushes against a UKI student," Dimas, 21, a communications student at YAI, said on Friday.
No matter how trivial, it seems good reason for the students to descend on the street that separates their campuses on Jl. Salemba Raya, Central Jakarta, disrupting the traffic and, injuring passersby who happen to be on the battlefield.
Although he admitted that the brawls could disrupt classes and hurt other people not involved in the brawls, Satrio, a third year student of international relations at UKI, could not imagine life without it.
"It has become a tradition for us, so we no longer feel awkward about it," he said.
A sidewalk vendor who sells fried bananas and tofu in front of YAI campus, Wahyu, said the brawls between the two campuses had taken place for years.
"It takes place frequently. It's a common thing," he said.
According to the students, shop owners and sidewalk vendors in the area, the brawls occur more than once a year, usually in the beginning of the fall semester, when new students are coming in.
The latest brawl took place in September, when around 100 students were involved in a one hour battle, in which the students hurled rocks, bottles, sticks, molotov cocktails and firecrackers at each other from 30 meters away.
The brawl resulted in 36 students being injured and the Central Jakarta Police were called to disperse the students.
In a bid to curb the recurring brawls, the municipal administration has joined forces with five institutions in the area to set up a special task force to end the violence. The task force comprises the neighboring University of Indonesia (UI), UKI, YAI, Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and St. Carolus Hospital.
The task force is responsible for monitoring security and upholding public order along Jl. Salemba.
Criminologist Erlangga Masdiana, however, said that the police's decision to set up the task force was only a short term solution.
"What will work in the long term is a sustainable transformation process, which will require all patrons, including the universities' alumni and faculty heads, to bring the students of the two universities together in a friendly activities, such as hiking and camping, and let them come to terms with each other," said Erlangga, who is a program director at UI's School of Criminology.