Jakarta summons UK envoy after flying of rainbow flag angers conservative groups — BenarNews & More News Here

Indonesia summoned Britain’s envoy on Monday after the United Kingdom’s embassy got here underneath fireplace from conservative Muslim groups and politicians right here for flying a rainbow flag in help of the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) neighborhood.

Homosexuality shouldn’t be a criminal offense in Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic-majority nation, however many Muslims view it as a vice. Gay intercourse is simply a criminal offense in Aceh province, the place a model of Islamic regulation, or sharia, is in pressure.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah advised BenarNews that British Ambassador Owen Jenkins answered the summons and was advised that the embassy’s transfer was “utterly insensitive.” Teuku declined to say what Jenkins had advised ministry officers.

“The action, along with its publication via the embassy’s official social media account, shows an utter lack of sensitivity and has created a polemic in society,” he mentioned in an announcement.

“The Foreign Ministry would like to remind foreign representatives to be mindful of and respect cultural and religious sensitivities that are prevalent in Indonesia,” he mentioned. 

The embassy had additionally posted a rainbow flag picture on Instagram final week to mark the International Day towards Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, with textual content that mentioned: “The U.Okay. will champion LGBT+ rights and help those that defend them … LGBT+ rights are basic human rights.

“The strongest, safest and most prosperous societies give everyone room to live freely as who they really are, without fear of violence or discrimination. …Sometimes it is important to take a stand for what you think is right, even if disagreement between friends can be uncomfortable.”

The publish led to a flurry of criticism from conservative Muslim leaders and politicians, who accused the British embassy of disrespecting “Indonesian values and norms.”

Fahmi Salim, a member of the Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholars (MUI), a semi-official council of clerics, mentioned the embassy’s motion may additional gasoline antipathy in the direction of “pro-LGBT promotion and propaganda.”

“It is unseemly for an embassy to disrespect cultural and religious values of its host country,” Fahmi advised TVOne information broadcaster.

“The foreign ministry’s summons to the ambassador is the right move,” he mentioned.

Tubagus Hasanuddin, a legislator from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, mentioned that though the embassy is the sovereign territory of the U.Okay., the elevating of the rainbow flag was a “cultural provocation.”

“The British should have been more sensitive,” CNN Indonesia quoted him as saying.

Yahya Cholil Staquf, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the nation’s largest Islamic group, declined to wade into the controversy. 

“It’s their business, not ours,” he was quoted as saying within the Indonesian media. 

A U.Okay. embassy spokeswoman couldn’t be reached for remark. 

I’ve tried to offer all types of information to all of you latest news today 2022 by means of this web site and you will like all this information very a lot as a result of all of the information we all the time give on this information is all the time there. It is on trending matter and regardless of the newest information was

it was all the time our effort to achieve you that you just preserve getting the newest information and also you all the time preserve getting the data of information by means of us free of charge and in addition let you know folks. Give that no matter data associated to different varieties of information will likely be

made out there to all of you so that you’re all the time related with the information, keep forward within the matter and preserve getting today news all sorts of information free of charge until at present so as to get the information by getting it. Always take two steps ahead