W. Jakarta Mayoralty does U-turn on Muslim attire
W. Jakarta Mayoralty does U-turn on Muslim attire
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Strong criticism from the public, particularly legal experts, has
changed the West Jakarta Mayoralty's stance on its own
instruction obliging students in public and private schools to
wear Muslim attire on Fridays.
"It was just advice from the mayoralty but definitely not an
instruction -- there was no obligation," West Jakarta Deputy
Mayor Amiruddin S. Lubis told reporters on Monday before
attending a plenary session at the City Council.
His explanation was completely at odds with the mayoralty's
letter of instruction that sets out a list of "obligations" and
"calls" on elementary schools, as well as junior high and senior
high schools, to heed it.
Instruction No. 101/2001 is titled "Activity program to
improve faith and belief in God and good behavior in public
schools in West Jakarta".
The wearing of Muslim attire and performing of Friday prayers
are listed as obligations, while among the calls is visiting the
Istiqlal Grand Mosque.
Amiruddin admitted that the requirements had not yet been
discussed with the city education agency.
He claimed it was a "bottom-up" idea, only to be applied in
West Jakarta.
"But if other mayoralties want to follow us, it's up to them,"
he said.
Amiruddin denied that the new policy was based on the Jakarta
Charter, which obliges Muslims to follow syariah (Islamic law).
"That's politics. We weren't thinking about that," he said.
He said the call to wear Muslim clothes was aimed at making
students, especially female ones, wear "polite clothes" instead
of the miniskirts that they often wore currently.
Several legal experts objected to the instruction to oblige
students to wear Muslim attire as it was unconstitutional and a
violation of human rights.
"It is a violation of human rights and also the Constitution,
which stipulates that every citizen is free to practice rituals
in accordance with his or her religion," lawyer and women's
activist Nursjahbani Katjasungkana said earlier.
Human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis also voiced criticism
of the mayoralty for intervening in the personal affairs of the
nation, which was known for its pluralism.
They doubted that the instruction would achieve its goal of
strengthening the moral fiber of students.
Besides lawyers, the students themselves did not believe that
the instruction would improve them.
"There's no guarantee, if we wore such attire, that our faith
would increase," Ardian, a Muslim student of a public senior high
school in West Jakarta, said earlier, adding that it was a
discrimination against the non-Muslim students.
Many students, who are Muslim, said that they would feel
awkward wearing Muslim attire while their non-Muslim friends wore
the conventional school uniform.