Google – AFP, 30 August 2013
A Muslim
woman wearing a veil sits in front of foreign tourists wearing
bikinis on Kuta
beach in Bali on June 6, 2013 (AFP/File, Sonny Tumbelaka)
|
JAKARTA —
Indonesia's religious affairs minister has called for the Miss World beauty
pageant to be cancelled, as opposition in the Muslim-majority country mounts
the week before the contest opens in Bali.
Suryadharma
Ali said that the organisers should follow the advice of the nation's top
Islamic clerical body, which last week called for the contest to be scrapped
even after organisers agreed to axe the bikini round.
"The
Indonesian Ulema Council has expressed strong opposition to Miss World because
it doesn't fit with Islamic teachings that say Muslim women should cover
immodest parts of their bodies," the minister said in a statement late
Thursday.
The
minister is the first government official to publicly voice opposition to the
pageant, dealing a fresh blow to the Britain-based organisers.
Miss
Indonesia 2013, Vania Larissa (L),
and Miss Maluku Marsha Pical at a
party on
March 20, 2013 (AFP/File,
Romeo Gacad)
|
The local
organisers were not fazed by the minister's comments however, saying the issue
was not his domain and that "the show must go on".
"This
is not an Islamic country and this event is an issue of culture, not
religion," Adjie S. Soeratmadjie, corporate secretary of broadcaster and
local organiser RCTI, told AFP, adding several other ministers supported Miss
World.
While
Indonesia is a Muslim-majority nation, its constitution is not Islamic and
recognises several religions.
The
organisers revealed in June that the famed bikini round was being axed for the
pageant in Indonesia in a bid to avoid causing offence, and contestants would
instead wear Balinese sarongs.
Nevertheless,
hardline group Islamic Defenders Front has not been appeased and still plans to
hold protests on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, where the pageant's
final will be held on September 28.
The
competition opens on September 8 in Bali, a Hindu-majority island known for its
many beaches where female tourists from around the world sunbathe in skimpy
bikinis with few problems.
Hardline
groups in Indonesia have forced the cancellation of events deemed
"un-Islamic" in the past.
Last year
pop star Lady Gaga pulled out of the Indonesian leg of her tour after
hardliners threatened to burn down the venue and criticised her for wearing
only "a bra and panties".
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