TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
BPIP scrambles to save face after controversy over flag raisers’ hijab
Following public criticisms over its perceived religious discrimination, the BPIP has quickly responded by denying that the Paskibraka dress code banned hijab and making assurances that this year's flag raisers would be permitted to wear the Muslim headscarf, if they chose to do so.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (third right), accompanied by several members of his cabinet (from right), State Secretary Pratikno, Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy and State and Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo, inspects members of the 2024 Flag Raising Troop (Paskibraka) after their induction ceremony on Aug. 13, 2024 at Garuda Palace in Nusantara, East Kalimantan. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
T
he government has announced that female members of the country’s Flag Raising Troop (Paskibraka) can wear hijabs during the Independence Day commemorations in Jakarta and in Nusantara, East Kalimantan, following public backlash over an alleged ban on the Muslim headscarf.
“Our orders are for female [Paskibraka members] who wear a hijab can still wear it, just as they wore it when they first registered [to join the troop],” Presidential Secretary Heru Budi Hartono, who is also acting governor of Jakarta, said on Wednesday after officiating a swearing-in ceremony at Jakarta City Hall.
Several female members of the squad slated to participate in the flag raising ceremony on Aug. 17 at the State Palace were seen wearing hijabs during the ceremony.
The Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), which is responsible for organizing the flag raising squads for the 79th Independence Day celebrations in the two cities, got into hot water after it was accused of forcing female Paskibraka members to remove their headscarves for the induction ceremony on Tuesday in Nusantara, which was led by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Some public observers noticed that all hijab-wearing Paskibraka members had removed their headscarves during the ceremony in the country’s future capital. A group of Paskibraka alumni later confirmed that 18 members of this year’s squad wore hijab.
BPIP chair Yudian Wahyudi has dismissed allegations of a hijab ban however, saying that the 18 hijab-wearing members had voluntarily removed their headscarves to comply with the Paskibraka’s prevailing dress code.
