Alleged hijab-removing incident triggers lawsuit against Indonesian president

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - The outgoing Indonesian president is facing a lawsuit over alleged orders to remove the Muslim face veil, Hijab, in the run-up to the nation’s Independence Day.

Joko Widodo, popular as Jokowi, will step down in October to make way for President-elect Prabowo Subianto.

According to a report by daily South China Morning Post on Friday, “dozens of students were forced to remove their hijabs” during the Southeast Asian nation’s Independence Day ceremonies.

The students were assigned to the country’s National Flag Hoisting Troop, locally known as Paskibraka.

Paskibraka’s operations have been overseen by the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP) since 2022.

Indonesia held celebration ceremonies last Saturday, Aug. 17, for the country's 79th independence anniversary at the newly inaugurated capital Nusantara as well as in the current capital Jakarta.

​​​​​​​However, the BPIP later "relented on its rule and some girls in the flag-raising troop donned their hijabs during the subsequent" Independence Day events in Nusantara and Jakarta.

The squad for the national flag hoisting is trained for months before the official events in August.

“Why was it ‘forbidden’ during the inauguration to wear a hijab? Why were (the girls) uniformized not to use the hijab? Isn’t this hurting diversity itself?” asked Gousta Feriza, chairman of the National Paskibraka Council (PPI).

The PPI organizes the flag-raising squad.

It pointed out 18 students had removed their hijab during an event with Jokowi at the State Palace in Jakarta on Aug. 13.

Ahead of Independence Day, the report said: “Hijab-wearing Maulia Permata Putri, a student from West Sumatra, was originally assigned to carry the flag tray in the squad before she was replaced by Livenia Evelyn Kurniawan from East Kalimantan, who does not wear a headscarf.”

However, officials have denied the students were asked to remove Hijab.

All the students agreed to “voluntarily” follow the regulations set by BPIP, including displaying “uniformed attire and attitudes when they carry out state duties,” said the BPIP head Yudian Wahyudi.

Yudian’s comments triggered backlash with many calling on Jokowi to sack the BPIP head.

Following the controversy, the Indonesian Supervisory, Control and Law Enforcement Agency and Megabintang Foundation civic organization have filed a joint lawsuit against Jokowi and the BPIP in a court in the Central Java city of Solo.

The lawsuit demands 200 million rupiah ($12,800) for “recovery costs of Paskibraka members who removed their hijabs during the inauguration,” the report added.

Besides, it demands that the outgoing 63-year-old president fire the BPIP head as well as “broadcast a public apology nationally, both on television and online."​​​​​​​