There are many beautiful Ramadan traditions in Indonesia, and sahur on the road (SOTR) should be one of them. Ostensibly, SOTR is supposed to involve groups going out early in the morning to share food for sahur (the predawn meal eaten during Ramadan). But in Jakarta, SOTR is increasingly being used as a pretext for another ‘local tradition’, tawuran, which is the local term for massive brawls between rival school gangs.
There was definitely more tawuran on the road then SOTR taking place on Saturday night, with police throughout the capital attempting to contain the chaos caused by dozens of roving motorcycle convoys throughout the city attacking others and causing at least one death.
The video below was taken at about 4:15 am in front of Jl. Merdeka Barat (near the National Monument) and appears to show rival SOTR groups fighting and blasting fireworks at one another.
04:15 Tawuran antar Peserta #SOTR (Sahur on The Road) di dpn Jl. Merdeka Barat & msh penanganan Polri. pic.twitter.com/AdyhK6iG4t @amar_rfq21
— TMC Polda Metro Jaya (@TMCPoldaMetro) June 17, 2017
Many of the brawlers were caught carrying weapons including bamboo sticks and sickles.
03.27: @TMCPoldaMetro: Polri kembali amankan Peserta #SOTR (Sahur on The Road) yg membawa sajam di Jl. Gajah Mada. pic.twitter.com/6r37Y4TeTL
— Radio Elshinta (@RadioElshinta) June 17, 2017
The police reportedly broke up another brawl that took place at the Bank Indonesia Roundabout at 2:30 am. Similar attacks were reportedly widespread and occurred in front of Gambir Station and the National Gallery.
Over in East Jakarta, police secured 63 youths from a SOTR convoy on Jalan Raya Bogor who had apparently gotten into fights with local residents.
Reports say that the police had previously appealed with SOTR participants to not head towards the Kota Tua area of North Jakarta that night, but were largely ignored, forcing them to set up checkpoints along Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gajah Mada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcXvrl5jfKI
In the most disturbing incident of the night, a 22-year-old army officer named Puji Ananda was supposedly attacked by some SOTR youth in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, at about 11:45 pm.
“When the victim was having coffee with his friends, there was a SOTR group approaching and shouting rudely,” said Central Jakarta Police Chief Commissioner Suyudi Ario Seto on Sunday as quoted by Tempo.
Witnesses said the SOTR group consisted of about 15 motorcyclists and two of them were carrying sickles. The group chased Puji and eventually he was stabbed in the stomach.
Puji’s fellow soldiers took him to a nearby hospital while the attackers escaped. They then went to the Gambir Police to ask for more information.
Based on the testimony of a witness, the SOTR group had supposedly fled to nearby Jl. H. Jiung where they were attacking others.
According to police reports, a white Daihatsu Ayla car suddenly came upon the SOTR group and rammed them at high speed. The car hit several people and one, an 18-year-old named Andrian Dwi Nanda, died while a 32-year-old man was critically injured.
The driver of the car supposedly got out and then fired a gun into the air. He then fled towards Ancol.
Police say they do not know the identity of the driver or the SOTR that was targeted. Police are requesting information from five TNI members said to be related to this case.
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