15 February 2017

Deutsche Welle: Indonesia cracks down on condom sales on Valentine's Day

The city's mayor, Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto, was quoted in local media as saying condoms were being sold "as if they were candy." He warned stores selling condoms to unmarried people that their licenses could be revoked. Last year, the mayor ordered stores to sell condoms only to married people.

The country's highest Islamic clerical council declared Valentine's Day forbidden by Islamic law in 2012, saying it violated Muslim culture and teachings. [...]

Most of the country's 220 million Muslims practise a moderate form of Islam, but conservative forms of Islam influenced by the Middle East have become more popular across the archipelago in recent years. [...]

In Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, schools were ordered to ban students from celebrating Valentine's Day "in or outside of school" because it ran counter to "cultural and social norms." A similar order was sent to public schools in West Java, the country's most populous province.



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