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Two Jehovah's Witnesses expelled from Batam school for not saluting flag, singing anthem
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The national flag-hoisting team admires their handiwork at the Independence Day ceremony in Jakarta on Aug. 17. Two state junior high school students in Batam were expelled for refusing to salute the national flag, sing the anthem, or attend religion classes as those practices are against their beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he Batam Education Agency has expelled two students from SMPN 21 state junior high school who were following their religious beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses by refusing to salute the national flag, sing the anthem, or attend religion classes.
The junior high school's head of committee, Dadang, told The Jakarta Post that the students, who were in their final year, have abstained from the activities in question since they first started at the school.
"We had organized a series of meetings to discuss this issue, but their parents keep defending their actions by saying they did it because of their beliefs. However, they want their kids to keep studying at this school," he said.
Dadang added that the first meeting occurred on Nov. 20, while the last was on Nov. 25. The meetings were also attended by representatives of the Batam Education Agency, the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Batam Education Council, the Batam Police, the Indonesian Military and the Batam Child Protection Commission (KPPAD).
"We cannot tolerate this behavior because it has come under a public spotlight," Dadang said, adding that the school decided to expel the students because it was not able to handle them anymore.
Meanwhile, the head of Batam Education Agency Hendri Arulan said all those who attended the meetings agreed with the decision to expel the students.
"We have decided to expel them because of our concerns regarding their Indonesian nationalism," Hendri said.
