Torajans' anger over virginity soothed
Torajans' anger over virginity soothed
JAKARTA (JP): The Tana Torajan community's protest over a
bureaucrat's remarks on virginity won sympathy from senior
leaders of the House of Representatives yesterday.
Leaders of House Commission I on information and Commission
III on legal affairs agreed the allegation that 96 percent of
Tana Toraja female students have lost their virginity to tourists
was slanderous.
"The remark was made without scientific data. The news is
misleading," said House Commission I chairperson Aisyah Aminy
when meeting with hundreds of Tana Torajan protesters.
Yesterday's demonstration was the latest in a wave of protests
triggered by the accusation made by Karimuddin, a Moslem preacher
and a religious affairs official in South Sulawesi.
The protesters targeted both the preacher and the Jakarta-
based Pelita daily, which published his comment in its April 27-
28 weekend edition. The government has strongly warned the
newspaper.
About 500 Torajans living in Sulawesi, Java, Sumatra and Irian
Jaya protested at the House to demand Karimuddin be arraigned and
Pelita be closed down.
Clad in traditional black suits and wearing head bands, the
protesters -- many of them women -- unfurled banners, beat gongs
and shouted their demands in the House foyer.
In their meeting with the legislators, they took turns reading
a statement refuting Karimuddin's remarks.
They said the article was a shocking insult to the Tana
Torajan people, who are mostly Christian. They said Karimuddin
should have known better, and should have considered the
promotion of peaceful coexistence among believers of different
religions instead of making his allegation.
Karimuddin alleged that in Tana Toraja, one of Indonesia's
most popular tourist destinations, most high school girls
prostitute themselves to foreign tourists and that they have sex
in public places.
"Karimuddin's remarks endangered religious harmony, a glue
that holds the nation's numerous religious as well as cultural
and ethnic groups together," said Peter Petawara, a Torajan
leader from Central Sulawesi.
Aisyah, a senior legislator from the Moslem-oriented United
Development Party, said she, as a woman, could understand how the
protesters feel about Karimuddin's remarks.
"I'm proud of what you have done to defend the dignity of
women," she said.
The legislators promised they would help solve the problem.
On a separate occasion, Slamet Effendi Yusuf, Pelita's deputy
chief editor, said the newspaper has apologized to the Tana
Torajan community and transferred the reporter to a non-editorial
section.
"We, too, understand how they feel," he said.
However, Slamet, a House member representing the ruling Golkar
party, refused to meet the demonstrators. (pan)