Author: AFP
Publication: Google News
Date: September 18, 2008
URL: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hEFqJyuGJeo0_PRQgomuoPgX8Ocw
Thousands of Balinese in traditional outfits
rallied on the Indonesian holiday island Wednesday against an anti-pornography
bill derided by critics as a threat to local cultures.
More than 5,000 protesters occupied the lawn
of the local parliament on the mostly Hindu island to oppose the bill, which
is under deliberation by mostly Muslim lawmakers in the capital Jakarta.
The bill, which could be passed in a matter
of weeks, criminalises all public acts and material capable of raising sexual
desires or violating "community morality".
Protesters denounced the proposed law as too
broad and a threat to local customs on the island, where naked temple statues
proliferate and skimpily dressed foreign tourists unwind on famous beaches.
Demonstrators turned up to the rally in traditional
clothes including semi-translucent temple blouses, saying such clothes could
be deemed too suggestive if the law was passed.
"Balinese and other ethnic groups have
a different view on what sexual or pornographic materials are," local
intellectual Wayan Sayoga said.
"We can view nudity without being trapped
by lust because we look at it from an aesthetical perspective," he said.
Protesters put on traditional dances and one
activist read out a poem that repeated the word "genital" to prove
the mention of sex would not send the crowd into fits of lust.
"The government should never forget that
Indonesia is a country based on non-discrimination over race, religion and
ethnicity," acitivist Luh Anggraeni said.
"This porn bill is a serious threat to
the country's unity since it disrespects the perspective of others on many
things."
The bill, which is being pushed by Muslim
parties in Jakarta, is being challenged on other islands in the archipelago
nation which encompasses cultures ranging from conservative Islam to semi-naked
animist tribesmen.
Although it is the world's largest Muslim-majority
country, Indonesia has significant and officially recognised minorities of
Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Confucians.
