Indonesia allows female flag-raising troop members to don hijab at Independence Day ceremony, overturning earlier ban

JAKARTA: Female members of Indonesia’s flag-raising troop can wear the hijab during the Independence Day ceremony in new capital Nusantara on Aug 17, the Presidential Secretariat has clarified, addressing a controversy which erupted after they were seen without the headgear during their debut show this year.

Secretariat chief Heru Budi Hartono made the statement to assure the public after the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP) earlier admitted to ordering members of the flag-raising troop, known as Paskibraka, to remove their hijabs while on duty.

The Pancasila Ideology Development Agency is a non-ministerial government agency tasked with preserving Pancasila, the state ideology, and its ideological development and implementation.

The decision to restrict hijab use drew criticism from members of the public, who noticed that all hijab-wearing Paskibraka members did not wear the Islamic garb during their induction ceremony on Tuesday (Aug 13).

The Paskibraka is an elite squad made up of high-school youths selected from all over Indonesia, whose task is to escort, raise and lower the heirloom national flag of Indonesia or its duplicate at Independence Day ceremonies on Aug 17 each year. 

According to the Paskibraka alumni group, there are 18 hijab-wearing members in the current group.

“We asked female (members of the Paskibraka) who use (the) hijab to continue using it (while on duty),” Mr Heru Budi said on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The Paskibraka members wore their hijabs during the dress rehearsal for the Independence Day ceremony in Nusantara that morning, he added.

BPIP chair Yudian Wahyudi had earlier justified a decision to instruct Paskibraka members to remove their hijab citing uniformity, despite past Paskibraka troops being permitted to wear the hijab on duty.

“We must understand that Paskibraka members should be uniform,” Mr Yudian said on Wednesday afternoon.

He also told the troop members that they would be required to take off their hijabs only during the induction and flag-raising ceremonies.

According to Mr Hartono, BPIP did not report to the Presidential Secretariat regarding its instruction to female Paskibraka members to take off their hijabs.

A high-ranking official of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) expressed dismay over the now-overturned rule forbidding female Paskibraka members from wearing the hijab.

“We certainly regret this action because in addition to not respecting human rights, it has also insulted the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia itself,” MUI’s deputy chairman Anwar Abbas said in a statement quoted by Kumparan.

“For Muslim women, wearing the hijab is an act of worship.

“Therefore, if someone prohibits Muslim women from wearing the hijab in this country, then it means that the person concerned has disrespected the Constitution and has also insulted the teachings of Islam,” he added.