Where can you be arrested and brainwashed for listening to music in mixed company? That would be in Indonesia, where the deputy mayor of the Aceh region recently declared "being punk" a crime punishable by arrest.
Mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal authorized the arrest and ten-day "reeducation" of sixty-four young people who attended a musical fundraiser in an Aceh park. Their "reeducation" consists of forced incarceration for ten days and having their heads shaved.
Illiza told the Jakarta Globe that the punks are guilty of spreading a "new social disease" which in effect undermines the community's religious practice. However, the only breach of Islamic law that she cited was that men and women had gathered in the same place.
She has also announced her intention to pursue, incarcerate, and "reeducate" another 200 punk rockers in her region.
Tell Banda Aceh deputy mayor Illiza S'aduddin Djamal that punk is not a disease. Tell her to stop punishing punk rockers in her region!
We the undersigned respectfully ask that you release any young people in your region who have been incarcerated for participating in punk culture and that you desist from your persecution of innocent people. Punk ideology is no threat to your region. Though the punk movement is vast and often defies classification, punks generally reject mainstream materialism and capitalistic greed. If you study this movement, rather than making snap judgments based on hair and clothing, you might be surprised how many values it shares with Islam.
