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strong>Online, Dec. 28

The Banda Aceh administration has banned its residents from celebrating New Year'€™s Eve, claiming that such celebrations were haram, an official said on Monday.

Banda Aceh deputy mayor Zainal Arifin said that celebrating New Year'€™s Eve was not a part of Islamic culture, while the majority of Banda Aceh citizens were Muslims. He added that the administration in cooperation with the local consultative forum (Muspida) had issued a regulation banning New Year'€™s Eve celebrations this Thursday.

'€œIt is haram for Muslims to celebrate New Year, so the administration has banned everyone from celebrating it,'€ he said as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday.

The Banda Aceh administration also prohibited Muslims from joining Christmas celebrations last week.

'€œThe city administration will continue to urge Banda Aceh citizens, who are mostly Muslim, to not celebrate Christmas and the New Year as it is haram,'€ he said.

Your comments:

The Aceh nightmare, over and over, is an ongoing advertisement against Islam.

Shame on them and shame on the Indonesian government that allows it. Will President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo celebrate Idul Fitri in Aceh next year, as he did this year?

Papsjik

The government needs to do something about Aceh; this is not in accordance with the national ideology of Pancasila. Civil liberties like freedom of religion and equality before the law for all are principles we must guard.

When the government insists that Aceh remains an integral part of Indonesia, it also has the responsibility to ensure those principles are implemented across this nation '€” without exception, everywhere!

Cisero

And yet the government gave them the right to moderate all matters of religion with the law on governing Aceh, which you can read publicly online. Was it wise to do so? No, not really... but then again...

Pancasila itself is problematic, what with its requirement to believe in only one God. This is a legal framework by which blasphemy laws remain in place not only in Aceh, but all of Indonesia.

Don'€™t pat yourself on the back too much; this problem goes well beyond Aceh.

I think Indonesia should look inwardly first. The Alexander Aan case demonstrates clearly that there'€™s no freedom from religion or equality before the law.

Aceh should be a separate country. For the Acehnese this won'€™t make much difference; independence would be a lateral move, but it would be a move that would please them. It would also have a negligible effect on Indonesia'€™s bottom line, but it would certainly encourage all the other separatist movements out there.

Indonesia keeps Aceh around because it fears a chain reaction.

Danina

The only reason they can do this is because they got so much money from tsunami aid. I hope that everyone who put money toward the aid effort realizes what their money has been used for.

I agree 100 percent that Aceh should be annexed from Indonesia.

Phew

That would be somewhat difficult at this stage, as due to abject poverty and further indoctrination by radical Islam what will eventuate is a stronger, more violent Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The best moment to bring that area back to Indonesia with no sharia would have been after the tsunami.  

Going to Aceh, all you see are government officials in Range Rovers, while they tell ex GAM fighters and people to pray harder for food on their tables.

I don'€™t think bombing is effective as it just further gives incentives to radicals to employ orphans or innocents who have lost someone and the radicals can say, '€œSee, the West is evil, they don'€™t care about you, they want me but blow you up.'€

A door-to-door sweep by armed forces to root out radicals and their supporters would be much more effective, followed by an immediate rebuilding program to provide employment opportunities to non-radicals and reparation such as education programs and medical facilities.

Couple this with a financial chokehold on all corrupt officials where all funds coming in and out of that area are being regulated heavily, and the publication of all ex-GAM '€œgenerals'€ amassed wealth after the tsunami to lower loyalty, and you might have a better chance. Besides, I don'€™t think America cares all that much about Indonesia and its homegrown radical terrorists.  

Deddy K

As for the ban, is there anything in Islam that says non-Islamic events (an event in this case that doesn'€™t even have a tinge of religious affiliation) cannot be celebrated?

Maybe there is, but I wish these fine scholars would refer to the specific surah or hadith when making such pronouncements so that people could look at it themselves and decide if it was a fair interpretation.

Furthermore, on Banda Aceh'€™s logic, recognizing a sport team'€™s victory, a birthday, or commemorations of the Boxing Day tsunami should all be equally haram.

Devanagari

If their version of Islam is so great, they wouldn'€™t need to force people to obey on pain of violence.

Underneath it all is the fear that if given the choice, many would abandon Islam altogether.

Caisle

Is this the future of Indonesia? Again, I say, throw this province out of the country and let them live or die on their own.

They are a disgrace to Indonesia as a whole.

Charles J