Indonesia announced the final of the Miss World pageant later this month would take place on the Hindu-majority island of Bali instead of near the capital, after days of Muslim hardline protests. The disclosure is the latest sign of fringe Muslim groups' growing influence on authorities in Indonesia and their power to obstruct events they consider un-Islamic.Last year, a Lady Gaga concert was cancelled after a series of protests, where extremists called her "the devil", threatened to torch the venue and denounced her for wearing only "a bra and panties".
Though Miss World organisers had already promised to replace bikinis with Balinese sarongs for its swimwear segment, thousands have taken to the streets this week to condemn the decision to hold the contest in Indonesia. On Friday, radicals burned the organisers in effigy and branded them "infidels".
The government said all events would now be held on Bali, where hardline influence is almost non-existent and where the Balinese are used to crowds of foreign tourists sunbathing in revealing swimwear.
Coordinating minister for people's welfare, Agung Laksono, said on Saturday, "All the events will now be held at venues in Bali. It will all be concentrated in Bali, until the closing." The government had "listened to what the people wanted," he added.
His comments came after around 600 people joined protests Saturday on Java island, bringing along goats wearing Miss World sashes to mock the event, while students in Surabaya held banners reading: "We are ready to die for the Miss World contest to be scrapped".
They join a human rights commissioner, government minister and mainstream Muslim groups who have all expressed their opposition to the event, many saying it exploited women and was an export of Western hedonism.