Gaga brouhaha proves that ‘hard-line groups’ run this country: Muslim scholar

 

The US pop diva Lady Gaga’s scheduled concert fiasco proves that certain hard-line groups have been successfully pushing local authorities to meet their demands, indirectly controlling the nation, a Muslim scholar says.
Rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University Komaruddin Hidayat told The Jakarta Post that certain groups within society had successfully influenced the government to intervene against Indonesian’s freedom of expression, adding that authorities should have protected it.
“This is a setback and a pathetic situation in which we find the public sphere where Indonesians should be able to express themselves without restraint in fact faces intervention from one community that has become a powerful force in this nation,” he said Wednesday morning.
He added that while hard-liner groups had pressured the authorities, several members of the government apparently had relented to their demands, saying that it was a “politically correct” move to do.
“This situation proves that there are fraudulent officials that have been using the hard-liner groups to further their own political interests,” he said.
Komaruddin was responding to the National Police’s refusal to issue permits to Lady Gaga’s Jakarta concert.
The Police claimed that the eccentric singer “does not resemble the country’s local culture.”
Lady Gaga is slated to perform at the Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta on June 3.
The singer, known for her pop songs such as “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance”, has sparked strong opposition from groups such as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Islam Defenders Front (FPI), United Development Party (PPP) and the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI).
MUI and FUI sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono requesting him to consider rejecting the concert’s permit.
In 2007, American R&B diva Beyonce was scheduled to perform in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, but the concert was cancelled because the sexy songster refused to abide by the nation’s so-called “decent” dress-code for women.
The Kuala Lumpur concert’s cancellation turned out to be Jakarta’s gain, because the diva decided to stop in the capital of the biggest Southeast Asian economy instead.
In 2012, however, it was Indonesia’s law enforcement agencies that denied issuing a permit for Gaga’s concert in Jakarta.
Komaruddin refused to comment on the changing situation but affirmed that the hard-liner groups were better off “fighting corruption practices” than disrupting Indonesians’ freedom of expression.