Violence closes Makassar university

Violence closes Makassar university

Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Hasanuddin University campus was closed for three days following
mounting conflict between students on Tuesday, which left more
students and a lecturer injured.

After a meeting between the university's management and
senate, university rector Rady A. Gany issued a circular posted
in all educational buildings in the campus, stipulating that the
campus would be closed from Aug. 27 through Aug. 30, and no
students would be allowed to enter the campus during those three
days.

The new ruling was issued following a new clash between
students in the campus that left dozens of them and a lecturer
injured.

"The decision is made to avoid more casualties and to prevent
the conflict from spreading to other faculties and other
universities in the city," said the rector after the meeting.

Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Amin Saleh, who attended the
meeting, said that all students trapped in the campus during the
clash on Tuesday would be evacuated and returned to their homes
while the police carried out a thorough investigation into the
incidents.

Some 300 security personnel were deployed to restore security
and order, both inside and outside the campus, after the bloody
clash between the students on Tuesday.

The second clash broke out when hundreds of the technical
school's students entered the campus following the management's
failure to arrest students who had attacked their school on
Monday and left five students seriously injured.

Finding no students in the mathematics and physics school, the
angry mob attacked other schools, including the arts and
political science schools.

Dozens of students were injured after being caught up
accidentally in the violence. Assistant to the rector for student
affairs Mappajantji was also injured when he tried to mediate
between opposing students.

The injured victims were taken to the city general hospital.

A group of students from the technical faculty, who were
equipped with machetes, arrows and stones, launched their attack
in the absence of security personnel.

Witnesses said they hurled stones at several buildings and at
a number of students who had not been involved in the brawl that
broke out on Monday.

The student brawl was triggered by an exchange of insulting
comments between new students on Sunday, causing those at the
mathematics and physics school to attack those of the technical
school.

All academic facilities at the two schools were badly damaged
and five students of the mathematics and physics school were
wounded.

Students of the technical school vowed on Monday to take
revenge unless the management and security authorities arrested,
within 24 hours, all the students allegedly involved in the
attack on their campus.

Rusni Fitri, who witnessed the incidents both on Monday and
Tuesday, blamed the campus management and local authorities for
the incident.

"The security authorities were not prepared when the attack
was made and the rector was too slow in taking action against the
students involved," said Rusni Etty, a student of the arts
school.