Under the latest regulation in Bireuën district on Sumatra island, men and women will not be able to dine together at restaurants and coffee shops unless they are accompanied by their husband or a close male relative.

Co-workers on their lunch break will also be forbidden from sharing a meal.

"The objective is to protect women's dignity so they will feel more comfortable, more at ease, more well behaved and will not do anything that violates sharia (Islamic law)," the head of the local sharia office Jufliwan told AFP on Wednesday.

The directive was sent to coffee shops, cafes and restaurants throughout the region.

It also stated that women would not be allowed to visit such establishments past 9pm unless they are accompanied by a spouse or a male relative.

"However, we can't punish them as this is only a suggestion, not a regulation that carries a punishment," Jufliwan said.

It will be up to restaurateurs to enforce the regulation.

Three years ago the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, banned unaccompanied women from entertainment venues including cafes and sports halls after 11pm.

Sharia in Aceh has been controversial ever since it was first introduced shortly after the downfall of Soeharto in 1998.

Jakarta was struggling to cope with an armed insurgency in the province.

Aceh, a region of Sumatra island, is the only place that follows Islamic law in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

It has attracted worldwide condemnation for publicly lashing people convicted of a variety of crimes including homosexuality, gambling and alcohol consumption.

Source

• whatsnew2day.
• theguardian.com
• newsweek.com
• Image: nst.com screenshot

Hardline Muslims demanded their closure, citing a lack of building permits, and following religious violence.

Local government security officers used sledgehammers to raze two small Protestant churches and a Catholic church - modest buildings of wood, concrete and tin - in the southern district of Aceh Singkil, as Christians looked on and wept.

Authorities say that seven more churches will be torn down in the coming days, following meetings between the Muslim and Christian communities about the issue.

In the previous week a hundreds-strong, stick-wielding mob razed a church in the district to the ground, and then fought with Christians in clashes that left one dead and four other people injured.

The only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country allowed to implement Islamic law, Aceh has been introducing more sharia regulations in recent years, and critics say minorities are being increasingly targeted.

Source

• channelnewsasia.com
• Image: channelnewsasia.com