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Indonesia Porn Bill Protects Women, Children: Top Scholar
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The scholar says the bill enhances morality and curbs vice in the country
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CAIRO,
March 24, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Indonesia's Porn Bill, which has
caused uproar in the world's most populous Muslim state, has been
principally proposed to protect women and children against abuses and
exploitation, one of the country's top scholars said on Friday, March
24.
"People
must understand that this draft law is being deliberated because we
are trying to protect women and children, not to criminalize
them," Amidhan, the chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI),
told the Jakarta Post in an interview.
He
said the bill was of high necessity to protect the morals of the young
people in the country.
The
controversial motion has been debated by the Indonesian parliament to
modify some contentious clauses in an effort to reach a halfway house
between its opponents and supporters.
In
its original form, the draft bill, initially proposed in 1999 and
officially titled the Anti-Pornography and Pornographic Acts Bill,
imposes fines on women who refuse to cover "sensitive" body
parts, such as hair, shoulders, midriffs and legs.
Violators
risk jail terms and fines up to Rp 2 billion (about US$214,000).
Another
article legislates a seven-year jail term for people caught kissing in
public.
"I
think we need stern regulations until our people are mature enough to
understand that pornographic acts are a private matter, and cannot be
shown in public," said Amidhan.
Respecting
Cultures
The
motion has drawn fire from many rights groups, including artists and
liberals, arguing that the bill encroached on personal freedoms and
could scare away tourists in multicultural Indonesia.
But
the Muslim scholar begged to differ.
"They
(the protesters) seem to have forgotten that the bill sets conditions
to allow existing cultures and traditions to remain," he told the
daily.
"The
law will only be as rigid as it is written: only those who
intentionally exhibit pornographic actions in public will face
sanctions."
Amidhan
said a legal mechanism will be drafted to persecute people accused
of performing pornographic acts in public.
Stripteases,
for instance, will be subject to punishment under the motion, he
explained.
"As
for dangdut singers who perform erotic dances on TV, should we
call the singers, especially female ones, promoters of pornography,
despite their claim that their erotic moves breathe life into the
music and songs? Those who disagree can turn off their TVs."
Sex
Education
The
Muslim scholar dismissed the idea of educating the Indonesians about
sex instead of proposing the bill.
"Sex
education can only be accepted in countries where the majority of the
population is well educated. I guess a mother can give a lesson to her
daughter about how the dangers of premarital sex.
"But
sex education for uneducated people, to some extent, will just arouse
them to commit pornographic acts," he argued.
The
issue has stirred a heated controversy in Indonesia, the most populous
Muslim state where Muslims make up 80% percent of the 220 million
population.
The
Indonesian city of Tangerang, 20 kilometers west of Jakarta, already
has by-laws of its own prohibiting the sale of alcoholics and
prostitution.
Its
mayor announced earlier in the month plans to impose a dress code for
school girls to be dressed modestly when they go to the classes as
part of a wider conservative policy cracking down on vice and
immorality.
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