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A mosque in
Banda Aceh -- a Sharia stronghold that has banned New Year's
Eve celebrations
-- pictured on February 25, 2013 (AFP, Chaideer Mahyuddin)
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Banda Aceh
— Islamic police in Indonesia's sharia stronghold seized thousands of
firecrackers and cardboard trumpets after the city administration banned New
Year's Eve celebrations for the first time, an official said Tuesday.
The Monday
night raid on street stalls and shops selling the items followed a fatwa, or
decree, by the clerical Ulema Consultative Assembly that said New Year's
celebrations or wishing someone "Merry Christmas" was
"haram" (forbidden) in the city of Banda Aceh.
The Banda
Aceh government backed the fatwa by banning New Year's Eve celebrations in the
city.
?This
public-order operation ahead of New Year's Eve is to ensure residents are
compliant with calls from the government and ulema," a senior Banda Aceh
sharia police official Reza Kamilin told AFP.
"There
should be no activity whatsoever to celebrate the turn of the year,"
Kamilin said.
The city
ban is not technically legally binding but is being enforced by sharia police,
whose role it is to "safeguard" morality.
Banda Aceh
is the capital of Aceh province -- the only part of Indonesia that enforces
Islamic law, or sharia -- where raids to enforce religious law are an everyday
occurrence.
But this
year is the first for any administration in the province to ban New Year's Eve
celebrations, in a sign of growing draconianism that rights groups oppose.
Sharia
police will also conduct raids on hotels and cafes, which have been warned not
to celebrate the day, Kamilin said.
"We
will dissolve any mass gatherings. If anyone is seen with firecrackers or
trumpets, we will confiscate them," he said.
Other
administrations in Aceh were reportedly also banning celebrations, saying
Muslims should only celebrate the Islamic New Year.
Aceh began
implementing sharia law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001.
Authorities now regularly cane people caught gambling or drinking alcohol.
Indonesia
is the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, but most practise a moderate
form of Islam, and New Year's Eve festivities are planned all over the country.
Related Article:
good effort by Aceh
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