Students protest headscarf ban
Students protest headscarf ban
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hundreds of students under the umbrella of the education and training center at the Ministry of Transportation staged a protest in front of the ministry on Thursday, demanding that the government revoke a regulation banning the use of headscarves.
"We demand that Minister of Transportation (Agum Gumelar) revoke the regulation issued by the education and training center," Denny S., a coordinator of the protest, said as quoted by Antara.
When asked when the regulation was issued, Denny said she had forgotten, but she reiterated that the center prohibited all its female students from wearing headscarves.
"The rationale for the issuance of the regulation is that it is for the sake of achieving uniformity, but this ignores the fact that the wearing of a headscarf constitutes freedom of religion as guaranteed under the law," she said.
The center has at least 30 branch offices located in various cities throughout the country. These include the Indonesian Flight College (STPI), the Transportation Science College (STIT), the Meteorology Academy and the Indonesian Statistics Science College.
Denny said that she had voiced her objection to the regulation last year, but officials at the center claimed to have no authority to revoke it because it was a decision of the minister of transportation.
We've sent letters to the minister of transportation twice, but no response has been made," Denny said.
The protest, which was peaceful, caused traffic congestion along Jl. Merdeka Barat.
Before demonstrating in front of the transportation ministry's compound, the students gathered at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
The students, most of whom wore headscarves, had initially hoped to meet the minister to convey their demand, but their plan was thwarted as the minister unfortunately was away.
They later unfurled banners which read, "Wearing headscarves is everyone's right!", "Why not wear headscarves?" and "Give us the freedom to wear headscarves!"