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December 22, 2005

Indonesia: Muslim Judge Blames Women's Wickedness For Tsunami

It will soon be the anniversary of the fateful tsunami that hit so many coastlines on December 26, 2004. One of the worse-hit regions, closest to the epicentre of the underground quake which caused the tsunami, was the province of Aceh, which lies on the northwest tip of Sumatra in Indonesia. 260,000 people lost their lives.

Today's Times reports on a disturbing phenomenon in the aftermath of the disaster - the blaming of women for causing the event, and forcing strict controls on women's lives to avoid the risk of another disaster.


Nick Meo decribes the actions of Sharia judge, Marluddin Jalil (pictured, below), who claims "The tsunami was because of the sins of the people of Aceh". At a meeting of housewives, he announces: "The Holy Koran says that if women are good, then a country is good."

A Sharia police force modelled on Saudi moral enforcers enthusiastically seeks out female wrong doers for public humiliation.

The Wilayatul Hisbah, which loosely translates as "Control Team", has arrested women, lopped off their hair, and paraded them in tears through the streets while broadcasting their sins over a megaphone.

More than 100 gamblers and drinkers - men and women - have been caned in public and some clerics are calling for thieves' hands to be amputated.

Sharia was officially introduced in 2002. In the town of Lhokseumawe 20 women have been punished. The sharia police there, states one observer: "seek out women without headscarves or unmarried girls meeting boys in private and parade them through the streets in an open car. I've seen the police laughing and boasting, and the girls in tears. The Sharia police say the tsunami happened because women ignored religion. We never heard of this parading before the tsunami."

Dr Jalil is enthusiastic in his mission, and states that his next target will be a camp for displaced persons outside Lhokseumawe. Here, young men and women are said to be mixing freely. "Sin starts small and gets bigger," Jalil explains.

In the northwestern tip of Aceh is the region known as Banda Aceh, and this faced the full force of the killer wave. The Red Cross recently organised a talent show in Barak Lampaseh camp in Banda Aceh. The winner was a 12 year old girl, whose father had been killed. Her song, which she said her Dad would approve of, told of how Allah had sent the tsunami as a punishment for sin.

The politicisation and exploitation of the disaster-struck community by religious extremists began as soon as relief operations started. We mentioned earlier the actions of the Islamic Defenders Group, or Front Pembela Islamwho are pathologically opposed to Christians. Established in August 1998, they are now active in 22 provinces. Their leader, Habib Muhammad Riziek Syihab was educated in Saudi Arabia. Many of FPI's leaders are said to be Arabic. They have a paramilitary wing called Laskar Pembela Islam, who operate raids upon bars, cafes, pool halls, massage parlours and gaming halls.

There is widespread belief that FPI has government tolerance, a view backed up by their being allowed to establish a large relief camp in Banda Aceh following the tsunami of 24 December 2004. A report from Fox News from January 21 2005 decscribed how the FPI were intimidating Christian aid workers, accusing them of trying to convert Muslims:

Hasri Husan, a leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, a militant Muslim group that is operating a refugee camp in Banda Aceh, made his feelings clear.

"We will chase down any Christian group that does anything beyond offering aid," he said before making a slashing motion across his throat.

FPI had 5000 people in Aceh after the tsunami, along with Hizb ut-Tahrir and Laskar Mujahideen (Mujahideen Army), according to the Jamestown Foundation.

Before the tsunami brought Aceh into the world spotlight, a little known war for independence from Indonesia had been going on for thirty years, led by a group known as GAM, or Gerakan Aceh Merdeka. 15,000 people have died in the fighting.

On Tuesday, abc noted that the last weapons of the rebels had been handed over to the Indonesian government, following a peace deal signed in Finland in August. The BBC states that the agreement means that GAM may be allowed to form a political party, but before that can happen, there must be a change in law, approved by the Indonesian government. These are the terms of the agreement in brief:

Gam gives up all 840 of its weapons in four stages

Government matches that by withdrawing some 24,000 troops in four stages

Disarmament and withdrawal to be complete by 31 December

Government facilitates Aceh-based political parties

Amnesty granted to Gam members

Truth and reconciliation commission established

Aceh monitoring mission set up by EU and Asean.

In October, the website Strategy Page announced that:

October 15, 2005: Some 23,000 troops remain in Aceh, while 6,000 have left since the peace agreement with the rebels was signed in August. Rebels continue to hand in weapons, with a total of 840 to be surrendered by the end of the year. There have been several firefights with rebels lately, leaving at least one rebel dead and several wounded. Not all of the 3,000 or so active rebels agree with the peace deal, and local police are supposed to deal with these eventually.

There are still 500,000 people homeless along 500 miles of coastline, and their plight has been made worse by the other battles going on between religious extremists, rebels and the government of Indonesia.

To blame the easy target of women for their wicked ways is unjust, but the Wilayatul Hisbah appears to be taking advantage of the situation and government tolerance to enforce the strict Islamism favoured by the Front Pembela Islam and others.

After the earthquake in Pakistan, mullahs were quick to blame "sin" and "decadence" for a devastating "Act of God". The Wilayatul Hisbah are exploiting a belief held by many.

Meo in his article concludes with a quote from Marzuki Lidan, a survivor from Banda Aceh, who lost his wife and children to the raging sea: "The Sharia police are good Muslims doing an excellent job. We must listen to them and follow God's rules. Otherwise the tsunami will happen again."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 22, 2005 9:16 AM

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Posted by: AnwarMustafa at December 10, 2007 5:18 AM

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