Aceh punk rock fans face more indoctrination

Dec 24, 2011, 6:17 GMT

Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Punk rock fans in Indonesia's staunchly Muslim province of Aceh were relieved that a 10-day re-education programme finally ended, but further brainwashing efforts may await them.

Sixty-five punk rock enthusiasts on Friday completed a 10-day rehabilitation programme at a police school, aimed at persuading them to do away with their distinctive lifestyles.

Police arrested the 60 males and five females at a concert that authorities said lacked a permit this month.

Officers buzzed off the punkers' mohawks, removed their piercings and dog chains and forced them to bathe in a lake in a traditional cleansing ceremony normally practiced by cadets.

Authorities are considering further rehabilitation programmes for the youngsters, with the aim of converting them into 'Islamic punkers.'

'On Monday, we'll talk about what they need further,' said Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal, deputy mayor of provincial capital Banda Aceh.

'We'll turn the kids into Islamic punkers,' she said late Friday. 'They are free to express themselves as long as it's within Islamic boundaries.'

She said authorities would conduct a regular patrol to monitor the behaviour of the youths.

At the 'graduation ceremony' on Friday, the youths were asked to perform a rock song on the stage. Many of them cried as they belted out 'Film Murahan.'

One of them, Rian Rizki Ramadan, said he opposed the deputy mayor's proposal.

'We don't need more guidance,' he said. 'Ten days at the police school is enough.'

Junaidi Edward, 19, said he would remain a punker.

'Punk is not dead!' he screamed.

But Wahyu Karamullah, 20, said he was now a better person and was happy to return to his family.

'I learned a lot in the past 10 days,' he said. 'I learned to pray in a congregation and I have become more disciplined.'

One of them claimed he was not a member of punk community and feared he could lose his job in Medan, the capital of neighbouring North Sumatra province.

'What about my job? I don't know if I can get it back,' he said.

'Is it true he's not a punk kid?' the deputy mayor asked.

The group answered in unison: 'No, he's not!'

Soraya, the mother of one of the youths, said she did not know that her son had joined a punk community.

'The night he was arrested, I noticed he sported a mohawk,' she said. 'I had actually forbidden him from mingling with the punk kids.'

The arrests of the Acehnese punk rock fans were condemned by human rights groups, who said that the youngsters should be given freedom to choose their lifestyle and fashion.

Protests were held by punk communities in countries such as Russia the United States. The European Union called the arrests 'arbitrary' and lackinged 'any legal basis.'

'One doesn't have to sport a mohawk and listen to Exploited to find this story utterly revolting,' wrote Chicago activist on dissidentvoice.org.

A group of self-proclaimed anarchist-punks in Moscow released a video that shows them allegedly defacing the Indonesian embassy in Moscow as a show of support for their Acehnese comrades.

Aceh imposes a form of Islamic law under special autonomy granted to the province as part of central government efforts to pacify a clamour for independence.

The government signed a peace deal with the Free Aceh Movement in 2005, ending decades of conflict that left more than 15,000 dead.