The battle over the anti-pornography and public display of sexuality bill is far from over. Today tens of thousands of Muslims rallied in the capital of Lombok island, Mataram, and were addressed by the mayor of that fair city, who said that women who dressed sexy were asking to be raped.

The mayor, H. Mohammed Ruslan, said women were free to dress up in sexy clothing as long as they didn’t do it in public because that invited rape.

If a woman is raped because they she wore sexy clothes don’t be quick to blame men, because she herself asked for it.
(Untuk itu, jika ada kaum perempuan yang diperkosa karena berpakaian seksi jangan cepat-cepat menyalahkan kaun adam, karena dia sendiri minta diperkosa.)

It doesn’t get any better than this. Source. I wonder if he includes in this all those western female tourists, scandalously dressed, wandering about Lombok, not knowing that they are in fact surrounded by men, perhaps like Mayor Ruslan, who have no control whatsoever over themselves and believe that mini-skirts are the “green light” and absolve them of all responsibility for their actions. One can only wonder.

This man, Ruslan, then asked the women present at the demonstration whether they felt that the Rancangan Undang-Undang Anti Pornografi dan Pornoaksi (RUU APP) would restrict their freedoms. The response was loud cries of “No” from the assembled Muslimahs.

The mayor was speaking outside the office of the governor where the demonstration had ended up after winding its way through the dusty streets of Mataram. As they walked along the participants shouted “Allahuakbar” (God is Great) as such people are wont to do on these occasions.

The demonstrators were grouped under the Aliansi Bersama untuk Islam (As-Salam), the Alliance for Islam, and consisted mainly of university and high school students and Islamic boarding school residents, who no doubt were all bussed in for the big event.

The head of the As-Salam, M. Zainal said that sexual freedom as applied in the realm of pornography and pornoaksi was responsible for the ruination of the nation’s moral fibre, its future, and a high abortion rate. He declared “war” on all forms of pornography and indecency.

Muharrar Mahfudz, from Muhammadiyah, also addressed the crowd.

I’m so proud to see the young generation still care for the morality and religion of Indonesia, I hope that our struggle will go on and that we struggle each in our own way.
(Saya sangat bangga dan terharu melihat para generasi muda yang masih peduli terhadap moral bangsa Indonesia dan agama, saya minta agar perjuangan diteruskan dan kita berjuang dengan cara kita masing-masing.)

In other related news it appears that the statements by the head of the parliamentary committee on the bill, Balkan Kaplale, that the articles pertaining to public indecency would be scrapped , as reported here (scroll down to bottom), may not be true.

He lied in public.
(Dia melakukan kebohongan publik.)

said a politician from the PDI-P, Eva Kusuma, to reporters yesterday. She added that no changes to the proposed law, which would ban kissing in public and the wearing of sexy clothing, among other things, had been agreed upon yet. The provisions on punishments and the setting up of a special body to enforce the law remained in existence she said.

Meanwhile the chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama, Hasyim Muzadi, has called for the bill to be passed, although he admitted compromises over the exact nature of the articles might have to be made.

On the opposite front Hasto Atmodjo of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says the proposed legislation should be relegated to the trash bin. He told the House of Representatives on Friday he feared the bill’s vague articles would allow multiple interpretations and could be easily manipulated.

The House should cancel its deliberation or at least postpone it until a compromise between the advocates and the critics is reached

Actually, the bill is unnecessary because the issues it deals with are already covered by other laws like the Criminal Code [articles 282, 283 and 284], the Broadcasting Law and the Film Censorship Law.

he said.

In Bali, the Young Hindu Dharma Intellectuals Forum came out Friday against the bill, saying it would threaten tourism and local culture.

We reject any laws that discriminate against religions and local cultures.

said forum chief Anak Agung Ngurah Arya Wedakarna.

However, the forum said it would support any law that would stop the distribution of pornographic materials. The group said the bill was inspired by sharia law, which might suit some Muslims but should not be imposed on people of other religions.

The battle rages on.