Indonesia: Lady Gaga's Concert Permit Denied
After being pressured by conservative politicians and hardline groups, which branded Lady Gaga as a devil worshiper, the Indonesian police announced that it won't issue a permit to the highly anticipated Lady Gaga concert in Jakarta, leaving over 50,000 fans disappointed.
@HeyPotterhead: Lady Gaga's concert better not be cancelled. I did NOT fell in line for 8 hours for nothing! Stupid FPI #IndonesiaSavesGaga #BTWBallGBK
FPI or the Islamic Defenders Front is an influential religious group which often campaigns against ‘anti-Islamic’ activities and ideas. In this particular case, Lady Gaga was accused of corrupting the morality of young Indonesians.
One of the promotional merchandise items of the Lady Gaga concert. From the twitpic page of @youngdancers
Lady Gaga fans, who were called ‘little monsters’, have criticized the government's decision:
@ginaignasia: Apa hak nya. Gue yang nabung&cari calo susah2, nyekal2 seenaknya. #IndonesiaSavesGaga #GagaIsAmazing #monsterpower #BurnFPIdown
@akibaryou: Save Mother Monster! Save the freedom of expression! The cancellation is proof of how our country has lost its priority.#IndonesiaSavesGaga!
@Ray_owl: FPI is embarrassing Indonesia internationally! #IndonesiaSavesGaga RT @lanaaisya: FPI is being a hypocrite. #saveladygaga
@NickyYuventius: Yang bikin gue bingung adalah polisi yg beralasan gaga itu porno. APA KABAR KONSER DANGDUT? PREEEET!
Dangdut, an Indian influenced folk music, is very popular in Indonesia. The dance moves of Dangdut performers are oftentimes sexy and erotic.
Meanwhile, the Christian Indonesian Church Council (PGI) supported the concert arguing that it's a part of the country's freedom of expression.
Not all politicians found Lady Gaga's performance racy. Lawmaker Ahmad Basarah, who is a Muslim, told newspaper The Jakarta Globe that the national police should be fair when it comes to protecting the nation's values, whether it's against liberal-capitalistic ideas or Middle Eastern ideologies.
Here are more reactions on Twitter:
@danielvk: Religious mafia manipulates democracy & freedom to rob the freedom of others. Don't tolerate intolerance! #saynotohate #indonesiasavesgaga
@DanielZiv: It's not a matter of #IndonesiaSavesGaga, it's more like whether Gaga can save Indonesia.And really, Indonesia needs to save itself from this extremist nonsense, Gaga or no Gaga.
7 comments
You just post the fans of lady gaga’s tweet!!.You dont know that majority of Indonesians hate gaga!!!!
Well, maximum Indonesians may hate Lady Gaga. But still, the concert should not be banned in such a time, when her fans were eagerly waited for this… It never should be planned…
@apri: then the Indonesians who hate gaga just simply don’t go to the concert! concert was not planned to be obligatory? simple, isn’t it?
I think the correct notion is that the majority of Indonesians (considering our children under 5 yo. and senior citizens populations) are indifferent about Gaga.
But many of us care about increasing religious intolerance. If Indonesia is a big school and life is the sand box, hardliners are bullies who incessantly kick sand to people’s faces while others are trying to play nice.
And this is unjustifiable.