Jakarta – Officials have said that the Indonesian Military's plans to possibly allow Muslim female personnel to wear the headscarf outside of Aceh could raise "insignificant" discussions.

Amidhan of the Indonesian Ulema Council said that he didn't think the issue was an important one yet. "I believe it is still a discourse among small groups of people," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone. "Moreover, I also consider the issue a sensitive one.

I am afraid if it is continually being discussed, it will create a loose cannon that could easily be politicized by those who have an interest."

Meanwhile, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief spokesman Rear Marshall Sagom Tamboen said the issue first emerged during the fit and proper test session for the incoming TNI chief held at the House of Representatives. "During the questioning session, a lawmaker asked Gen.

Djoko Santoso, the TNI chief candidate, (about) the TNI's decision to comply with the sharia law in Aceh, where all TNI female personnel are required to use headscarves," Sagom told the Post.

"If I look at the source of the issue, I believe that it has only arisen within the one person's mind (the House member who asked the question). People should see what the TNI does in Aceh as a symbol of the TNI's flexibility toward the local wisdom in Aceh." Sagom said he didn't know who the lawmaker who raised the topic was because he had not attended the House meeting. "While within TNI itself, there has never been any problem or even a question from TNI personnel regarding the headscarf," he said.

Commenting on the possibility that the TNI's indecision on the issue would create resistance from female civilians who wanted to join the military, Sagom said in his 32-year military career, he had never heard of anyone who felt she could not join the TNI because she wore a headscarf.

However, a female graduate of the pharmacy school at the Bandung Institute of Technology said that during her studies, she attended a lecture given by Navy officers. She said the guest lecture was held to promote job opportunities for pharmacists in the Navy.

"However, as almost 90 percent of female pharmacy students were wearing headscarves, they were not allowed to join the Navy even though they were actually very interested in joining the Navy," she told the Post, while requesting anonymity. "When we asked what the reason was, the Navy officers could not provide any clear answers." (uwi)