Balinese people protest 'Indosiar' action series

Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Some 200 people representing the Forum for Harmonious Inter-Faith Relationships (FKUB) staged a peaceful protest at the Provincial Representatives Council building here on Tuesday, demanding the Jakarta-based television station Indosiar stop airing its prime- time action series Angling Darma.

The protesters claimed that various scenes from the series' five latest episodes had insinuated that Hinduism was an inferior religion. They also said the series had inaccurately portrayed the life of Angling Darma, a legendary Hindu king who was believed to have reigned in Java in the 11th century.

"One of the episodes contained a scene in which a character stated that there would come a new religion (Islam), which would be able to abolish all evils. We are very offended by this statement, since it hinted that the old and existing religion at that time (Hindu) was inferior compared to the new religion," protest coordinator I Wayan Sudiana said.

Furthermore, Sudiana said, the series had deliberately depicted the main villain as someone who had acquired all his black magic skills in India, while the leading characters were of Arab origin.

Leaders of various Hindu youth and student organizations, such as Ray Misno, Wayan Jondra and Made Udi Prayudi, were among the protesters, who passionately and repeatedly screamed the slogan Satyam Eva Jayate, meaning 'the truth shall prevail.'

The protesters demanded that Indosiar immediately stop airing the series, saying they would otherwise stage larger protests and also take steps to sue the station over the program.

"The series must be canned as of tomorrow (Wednesday), or we will stage another protest," Sudiana said.

The head of the provincial legislative council, Ida Bagus Putu Wesnawa, who was accompanied by around a dozen legislators, assured the protesters that their voices were being, and would continue to be, heard.

"Hinduism is a very tolerant religion, but this, I think, is too much, and is also way over the line," he said.

Separately, in a faxed, written statement, the director of Indosiar, Nurhadi Purwosaputro, expressed his company's deepest apologies to the followers of Hinduism who had been offended by the series. Indosiar would also make several improvements to the series, which was currently among the station's ten highest- rating weekly programs.

"We don't have any intention of offending any particular religion in the production and presentation of the series," he said.

Indosiar spokesman Gufroni Sakaril disclosed that the written statement was drafted during an unscheduled executives meeting on Tuesday afternoon, which was called right after the company learned about the protest.

Yet the fate of the series' next episode, due to be aired at 09.00 pm Jakarta time on Wednesday, was still unclear.

"Whether the episode will be canceled or not is a matter that is still under serious consideration," Gufroni said.

Meanwhile, the series' scriptwriter Imam Tantowi stressed that the series did, in fact, portray a harmonious inter-faith relationship between King Angling Darma and two Muslim characters from Gujarat, India. They worked in unison to fight the evil that haunted Angling Darma's kingdom.

"I deeply apologize if my series has offended my Hindu brothers and sisters," he said.