Exotic Java Dancers Insult Islam


(Java, Indonesia) The Islamic West Java Governor has instructed traditional Sundanese dancers to cover up and cut down on their gyrating movements.

The directive, by Governor Ahmad Heryawan of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), is a result of the strict anti-pornography law passed last year.

The PKS was one of the Muslim-based parties that pushed hard for the law to be passed by Parliament last October, despite reservations by minority groups.

The law does not ban traditional costumes of Indonesian citizens, including those in non-Muslim Bali and Papua, and some regions in Java, where traditional dress codes range from bare breasts and near nudity to naked shoulders.

But it emphasises the need for Indonesians to dress decently - a phrase that critics say amount to an Islamic dress code.

It also makes it an offence for anyone to be 'an object of pornography' that arouses sexual desires.

PKS president Tifatul Sembiring, however, defended the directive, saying that the move was meant to preserve the traditional dance of Jaipongan but cut out the erotic movements.

Interestingly, Jaipongan folk dancing started in seedy red light districts and over time became identified as an integral part of West Java's Sundanese culture. Activists and the Sundanese dancer community expressed outrage at the Governor's directive.

PKS President Sembiring said the directive was not an attempt to impose sharia law in the West Java Province.