Hundreds of people rallied yesterday in the Hindu-majority holiday island of Bali against a tough anti-pornography law branded by critics as a threat to religious freedom.
About 400 people marched through the capital Denpasar against the law, passed by mainly Muslim lawmakers in Jakarta last month.
Protesters denounced as too broad the law’s definition of pornography, saying it was a threat to Indonesia’s diverse non-Muslim minorities and could shatter national unity.
PHOTO: EPA
High-spirited protesters in traditional sarongs and translucent temple blouses marched toward the provincial governor’s office, cheering wildly at traditional dances and performances by local pop singers in curve-hugging pants. The chair of the West Papua provincial parliament, Jimmy Demianus Ijie, said the law criminalizes Papuan culture, where many people are semi-naked.
“I’ve taken part in many Papuan performances in many places and I’ve only worn traditional clothes, but you could see my arse and I was swaying my hips, I was being sexy. Are they going to arrest me for that too?” he told reporters.
A challenge to the law would be launched in Indonesia’s Constitutional Court next week, activist Ngurah Harta told the protest.
“We have to win this judicial review or we will hold a massive civil disobedience campaign,” he said.
Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika pledged last month that his government would not enforce the pornography bill, but he did not turn up to yesterday’s protest.
Muslims make up roughly 90 percent of Indonesia’s 234 million population, which also contains sizable Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian minorities.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia