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)