Friday, September 03, 2010 17:36 PM
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JAKARTA: Muhammadiyah is trying to live up to its commitment to making cigarette smoking haram, starting with its upcoming congress in July.
Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organization after Nahdlatul Ulama, will deploy sharia police to enforce the ban on smoking at the national gathering in Yogyakarta, whose main agenda is to elect new leaders.
“It’s right, we’re readying the Aceh-style sharia police that we
call the cigarette police,” deputy chairman Sudibyo Markus told detik.com.
“The upcoming congress must be free of cigarette smoke and sponsorship.” Participants caught puffing will be “politely reprimanded”, he said.
The congress will be attended by an estimated 5,000 Muhammadiyah leaders from across the country. — JP
