In a move that is sure to be considered controversial by many in the capital, Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama announced that he’s banning public schools from forcing their students to wear jilbabs. He made the announcement during a briefing of 1,700 Jakarta school officials on Saturday.
According to Ahok, he enacted a similar ban when he became regent of East Belitung in 2006.
“[East Belitung] was 93 percent Muslim. Suddenly all the teachers were requiring their students to wear headscarves. But the headscarf is supposed to be a call of faith,” Ahok said, as quoted by Tribunnews.
“If you believe that the headscarf is something that could save you, then go ahead and wear one. But you can not force all children to wear them,” he said.
Ahok also told the assembled crowd that this prohibition not be linked to the notion that he is anti-Islamic because, to him, the headscarf is not a symbol of Islam.
“If we want to argue, some Christians and Jews also wear the veil,” Ahok said.
Ahok added that part of the reason for the ban was because students who were forced to wear jilbabs did not take it seriously, citing stories of children in East Belitung who would immediately take them off after school was over.
We have no doubt that some of Ahok’s enemies will use this to once again try to paint the governor as being anti-Islam, but there are many Indonesian Muslims who believe that wearing a jilbab is a matter of personal faith and Ahok is simply doing what his conscience dictates, which is to protect the rights of everybody to practice their religions as they see fit. We would expect nothing less of the governor than to do the right thing, no matter how badly it might affect his political career.
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