Students injured in campus clash
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
Engineering took on the social sciences on Thursday as hundreds of students at the University of Hasanuddin here ran amok, leaving a dozen people injured, one seriously.
The all-out brawl, which started at about 2 p.m. inside the campus, ended after Makassar Police arrived at the scene and fired warning shots into the air.
The clash between students of the university's School of Social and Political Sciences and those from the School of Engineering was triggered by the reported kidnap and beating of two new engineering students -- Abel Paturu and Jonathan -- when they passed the social sciences building.
Witnesses said Abel was beaten while being held by the social science students but Jonathan managed to flee and reported the case to his seniors.
An hour later, hundreds of engineering students stormed the School of Social and Political Sciences, and a pitched battle ensued.
The two rival student groups hurled stones and other solid objects at one another, defying orders by campus administrators and security guards to end the violence.
The fighting shattered windows and injured a dozen of students, including one identified as Yudi, who received serious head injuries.
He was rushed to Makassar's Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital.
University staff said material losses from the clash were being calculated.
East Makassar Police officers arrived an hour after the brawl began and fired warning shorts into the air to quell the unrest.
University assistant rector Ambo Ala said the campus would remain open despite the incident.
He said the university has asked the police to post at least 15 officers on campus until Sunday to prevent a further brawl.
"We will not close the campus or send home students. All lecturing, academic and administrative activities will continue as normal. We only ask for security assistance from the police," Ambo said.
He said campus staff and police were cooperating in investigating the clash to find the masterminds.
"Those found guilty of involvement in the incident will face academic sanctions and legal action," Ambo said without elaborating.
Student brawls on the campus take place almost every year and are often sparked by trivial matters.
The worst violence broke out in 1992, when students set ablaze a laboratory building at the School of Engineering.
Early in July, Makassar police arrested six students and seized molotov cocktails, arrows and machetes in a crackdown on Hasanuddin University students, following a brawl that left several students injured and scores of buildings damaged.
A week later, five people suffered severe stab wounds and two buildings were burned to the ground after two rival groups from the Indonesian Muslim University clashed over an initiation program for freshmen. The students were armed with swords and spears.
A brawl also broke out at the State University of Makassar (UNM), in which three people suffered gunshot wounds, last August.