Farouk Arnaz & Made Arya Kencana – Islamic hard-liners intensified their protests against this year's Miss World beauty pageant on Tuesday as contestants started to arrive in Bali for the September 28 event.
"We reject Miss World and immoral acts. We want to uphold shariah in Indonesia," said Muhammad Al Khaththath, the secretary general of the Islamic People's Forum (FUI).
First held in 1951 as a bikini contest, the pageant is a competition for 130 pageant winners from around the world. As a concession to Indonesian culture, organizers have struck bikinis from this year's event.
On Tuesday, 200 people associated with various hard-line groups, including the FUI, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis) and the Islamic Defenders' Troops (LPI), protested at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout and the MNC Tower, both in Central Jakarta.
The MNC Tower belongs to tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo, the owner of RCTI, a national television channel that will air the pageant. Some 150 police officers were assigned to monitor the protests.
Khaththath said that protesters will continue demonstrating on Friday and march from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout to the MNC Tower and then to the National Police headquarters.
The pageant will begin in Bali and continue at the Sentul International Convention Center in Bogor, West Java. Protestors said they would swarm the building during the event.
The protests echoed mounting criticism of the event from some state officials. Suryadharma Ali, Indonesia's minister of religious Aafairs, and Maneger Nasution, an official at the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), have condemned the contest as incompatible with Islamic teachings.
However, Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika voiced his support for the pageant, saying that it would have a positive impact on tourism and the nation's image.
Contestants arrive
Eighteen contestants arrived at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on Tuesday, and local police officers increased security measures to ensure the participants' safety.
"They came through a VIP room at the international arrival terminal," said Ngurah Rai police chief Cmr. Ida Bagus Artha. Artha said that armed security officials are in place at the airport. "We increased alertness so that unwanted incidents would not occur," he said.
Hard-liner threat
The vocal hardline fringe has succeeded in getting events canceled in the past. Last year, pop sensation Lady Gaga axed a concert after hardliners threatened to burn down the venue and criticized her for wearing only "a bra and panties."
Certain areas of West Java are considered strongholds for radicals. While Indonesia is a Muslim-majority nation, its constitution is not Islamic and recognizes several religions.
[Additional reporting from Agence France-Presse.]