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JAKARTA - The US pop diva Lady Gaga's scheduled concert fiascoproves that certain hard-line groups have been successfully pushinglocal authorities to meet their demands, indirectly controlling thenation, a Muslim scholar says. Rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State UniversityKomaruddin Hidayat told The Jakarta Post that certain groups withinsociety had successfully influenced the government to interveneagainst Indonesian's freedom of expression, adding that authoritiesshould have protected it. "This is a setback and a pathetic situation in which we find thepublic sphere where Indonesians should be able to expressthemselves without restraint in fact faces intervention from onecommunity that has become a powerful force in this nation," he saidWednesday morning. He added that while hard-liner groups had pressured theauthorities, several members of the government apparently hadrelented to their demands, saying that it was a "politicallycorrect" move to do. "This situation proves that there are fraudulent officials thathave been using the hard-liner groups to further their ownpolitical interests," he said. Komaruddin was responding to the National Police's refusal to issuepermits to Lady Gaga's Jakarta concert. The Police claimed that the eccentric singer "does not resemble thecountry's local culture." Lady Gaga is slated to perform at the Bung Karno Stadium inSenayan, Central Jakarta on June 3. The singer, known for her pop songs such as "Poker Face" and "BadRomance", has sparked strong opposition from groups such as theIndonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Islam Defenders Front (FPI), UnitedDevelopment Party (PPP) and the Islamic People's Forum (FUI). MUI and FUI sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonorequesting him to consider rejecting the concert's permit. In 2007, American R&B diva Beyonce was scheduled to perform inMalaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, but the concert wascancelled because the sexy songster refused to abide by thenation's so-called "decent" dress-code for women. The Kuala Lumpur concert's cancellation turned out to be Jakarta'sgain, because the diva decided to stop in the capital of thebiggest Southeast Asian economy instead. In 2012, however, it was Indonesia's law enforcement agencies thatdenied issuing a permit for Gaga's concert in Jakarta. Komaruddin refused to comment on the changing situation butaffirmed that the hard-liner groups were better off "fightingcorruption practices" than disrupting Indonesians' freedom ofexpression. I am an expert from gsm-gprs-modem.com, while we provides the quality product, such as GSM Alarm Module Manufacturer , Edge Wireless Modem, Wavecom GSM Modem,and more.
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