(Yogyakarta) The Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in
Yogyakarta has barred its female students from wearing burkas during any campus
activity.
University Rector Yudian Wahyudi said there would be seven warnings and counselling sessions before the university expelled any female students who insisted on wearing burkas. Yudian explained the University had formed a counselling team to nurture the 41 burka-wearing female students. He explained these students would be dismissed should they refuse to cooperate with campus policies after participating in seven counselling sessions.
He also added the university
is based on moderate Islamic views, These viewpoints on Islam acknowledge
Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution, the Pancasila state ideology, and the Unitary
State of the Republic of Indonesia. However this hasn't gone down well, with
those who find offence everywhere they look. The Islamic Defenders Front, a conservative group that
campaigns against activities it deems un-Islamic, said in a statement the
policy “did not make sense” and was in conflict with the country’s efforts to
preserve diversity. A women’s rights activist decried what she described as a
limitation on the freedom of women to wear what they want.
“Using full-face veils is a choice and we cannot interfere in their choice and their freedom,”
In reply Yudian Wahyudi said radicalization, as exemplified
by the burqas, undermined learning.
“Female students wearing the burqa, and radical groups, they are disturbing the teaching process, We are putting moderate Islam forward,” he said, adding that the policy was a “preventive action to save the students”.
Students would be allowed to continue using regular
headscarves that do not cover the face,
