Jakarta police ban Gaga concert - Indonesia's national police will ban pop diva Lady Gaga from performing in Jakarta because they say her show poses a threat to security and morality.
The police have denied they were backing down in the face of an Islamic radical group, the Islamic Defenders Front, which had threatened to mobilise 30,000 of its supporters to intercept her at the airport and violently protest at her concert.
Beef with the authorities ... Lady Gaga's scheduled Jakarta concert has been banned due to security reasons and the moral threat it poses to Islamic groups. Photo: Terry Richardson
But the Jakarta police cited opposition from Islamic groups, including clerics.
The national police senior commissioner, Boy Rafli Amar, confirmed last night that the national authorities would decline to grant a permit.
Lady Gaga's Indonesian promoter says more than 50,000 tickets have been sold for the June 3 concert at Jakarta's main stadium at about $50 each. He would not comment yesterday, saying he had not yet heard officially from the police.
But on Twitter, the provocative performer's Indonesian fans were voluble.
''This does not diminish our admiration for love + mother monster,'' one fan wrote.
''Heavy Gaga Monster'' wrote: ''I hope @ladygaga is doing well :/ she must be so sad for her Indonesians Monsters.''
In theory, Lady Gaga could perform outside Jakarta with the agreement of local authorities.
But Indonesia's ultra-Islamic groups have opposed the American performer's concert, with the FPI calling her ''dangerous'', saying she ''will destroy our children's sense of morality''.
That view won support in the government of the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The Interior Minister, Gamawan Fauzi, said: ''We must protect all aspects of the Indonesian nation … [the police] have taken some [good] steps.''
General Romahurmurziy, the secretary of the Islamic-based PPP party, which is part of Mr Yudhoyono's governing coalition, said Lady Gaga's lyrics were ''anti-religious, while our country's philosophy is based on religiosity … it is forbidden to spread an anti-religious ideology''.
A Jakarta police spokesman, Rikwanto, said the Indonesian Ulema Council - a government-funded group of clerics who give advice to politicians - had asked for Lady Gaga to be banned because her performance was ''not in line with Indonesian morale and culture''.
Watching the concert was ''haram'', or against Islamic law, the council had said. ( brisbanetimes.com.au )
The police have denied they were backing down in the face of an Islamic radical group, the Islamic Defenders Front, which had threatened to mobilise 30,000 of its supporters to intercept her at the airport and violently protest at her concert.
Beef with the authorities ... Lady Gaga's scheduled Jakarta concert has been banned due to security reasons and the moral threat it poses to Islamic groups. Photo: Terry Richardson
But the Jakarta police cited opposition from Islamic groups, including clerics.
The national police senior commissioner, Boy Rafli Amar, confirmed last night that the national authorities would decline to grant a permit.
Lady Gaga's Indonesian promoter says more than 50,000 tickets have been sold for the June 3 concert at Jakarta's main stadium at about $50 each. He would not comment yesterday, saying he had not yet heard officially from the police.
But on Twitter, the provocative performer's Indonesian fans were voluble.
''This does not diminish our admiration for love + mother monster,'' one fan wrote.
''Heavy Gaga Monster'' wrote: ''I hope @ladygaga is doing well :/ she must be so sad for her Indonesians Monsters.''
In theory, Lady Gaga could perform outside Jakarta with the agreement of local authorities.
But Indonesia's ultra-Islamic groups have opposed the American performer's concert, with the FPI calling her ''dangerous'', saying she ''will destroy our children's sense of morality''.
That view won support in the government of the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The Interior Minister, Gamawan Fauzi, said: ''We must protect all aspects of the Indonesian nation … [the police] have taken some [good] steps.''
General Romahurmurziy, the secretary of the Islamic-based PPP party, which is part of Mr Yudhoyono's governing coalition, said Lady Gaga's lyrics were ''anti-religious, while our country's philosophy is based on religiosity … it is forbidden to spread an anti-religious ideology''.
A Jakarta police spokesman, Rikwanto, said the Indonesian Ulema Council - a government-funded group of clerics who give advice to politicians - had asked for Lady Gaga to be banned because her performance was ''not in line with Indonesian morale and culture''.
Watching the concert was ''haram'', or against Islamic law, the council had said. ( brisbanetimes.com.au )
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