Indonesian transvestites are pictured next to a shop in Jakarta. Photograph: AFP
JAKARTA - Indonesia's highest Islamic body has issued a fatwa banning Muslims from watching gossip shows or having sex-change operations, an official said Wednesday.
The increasingly assertive Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said gossip shows about the intimate details of people's private lives -- a popular genre on Indonesian television -- were immoral and threatened society.
"We considered it important to pass the fatwa as infotainment programmes may contain immoral material and violate the journalistic code of ethics," MUI official Asrorun Niam Soleh said.
"We're not against all infotainment programmes... What's haram (forbidden) is material that's gossipy and exposes shameful details about people.
"When people start spreading rumours, the joints holding a nation together will be crushed."
Profiting from infotainment shows is also forbidden under the edict, posing a theological conundrum for the media industry in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
Gossip shows are allowed only if they "uphold the law, warn the public and help people", Soleh said.
The ruling will be presented to the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission as a guideline for future infotainment programmes, he added.
Another fatwa passed at an MUI meeting late Tuesday forbade receiving or conducting a sex-change operation unless there is a good medical reason.
The council is the top Islamic authority in Indonesia and while its edicts are usually ignored, they can be cited by religious hardliners to justify vigilante-style crackdowns on "un-Islamic" activities.
It has recently issued a steady stream of fatwas including bans on inter-faith marriages, smoking and yoga.
It was forced into an embarrassing apology earlier this month when it corrected a fatwa ordering Muslims to pray to the west, when in fact the Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia are northwest of Indonesia.
Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia programming head Banardi Rachmad said the edict on celebrity gossip shows was confusing and the station would continue to produce and broadcast such content.
"We'll continue broadcasting infotainment programmes but we'll evaluate the content and see how to improve it," he said.
"What's fact to us could be deemed as lies by others, how do we know for sure what constitutes a rumour?"
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First transgender to become a doctor in Pakistan
Islamabad, July 09: If strength, determination and vision are the basic traits of a true leader then Sarah Gill certainly qualifies, as one for she not only has the strength and determination to stand up for the rights of her community, but also has the vision to lobby for centuries' old respect for transgender in society.
A resident of Karachi, Sarah, 23, is going to be the first transgender to become a medical doctor in Pakistan's history. This interview was taken on her recent visit to Islamabad aimed at meeting United Nations officials.
"Our community enjoyed tremendous respect in Islam as well as in the history of Muslim rulers," said Sarah. "It was only after when the British came to this continent that we were declared criminals by law and since then, our community is constantly facing inhuman discrimination and have become a symbol of shame," said Sarah, a soft spoken person with a strong opinion. She regretted that the law made by British was still part of Pakistan's constitution.
Talking about the plight of her community, she said that usually a declared transgender is left with no option, but to indulge in immoral activities for survival. "Due to discrimination and harassment, literacy rate among my community is very low and those who have some educational background fail to find a job." Despite all this social injustice, she said that transgender are never found involved in any criminal activity.
"The original Urdu word for a transgender is 'Murat' that is a combination of 'M' from Urdu word 'Mard' and 'urat' from 'aurat'. We call each other by this name," she said.
Sarah is currently studying medicine and is in fourth year at Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi. "My family warned me that if declare myself as transgender, they will stop paying for my studies. Now I will have to arrange for my next year's fee on my own," said Sarah, who still attends college as a male student.
"I do not know when I will have my own identity as directed by the Supreme Court," she said adding that the process of registration is extremely slow and is still incomplete even in big cities. "Almost a year has passed since the Supreme Court ordered Nadra to issue special Identity Cards for transgenders, but the authority is still busy in paper work and nothing practical has been done yet. "Majority of transgender community is illiterate and do not know their rights. It is a shocker for government officials when they have to deal with an educated transgender."
She said that her class fellows have clear idea that she was a transgender, but she has not officially declared that before her teachers. "I am sure that I will be kicked out of college if I do that. Due to same discrimination and social pressure, majority of transgender tend to hide their identity and live like men throughout their lives," she pointed out.
Sharing her experiences, Sarah said that from her childhood, she was always attracted towards girly things. She said that to be declared as a transgender, a certificate is needed from a psychologist. "I decided to go for this test two years back despite severe criticism from my family. "My family tried their best to convince the doctor not to declare me as transgender," she said.
"They insisted that I pose as a boy throughout my life despite knowing that I am not. They said that I am selfish and not considering the respect that the family would lose after I declare myself as transgender. Every transgender has to face the same situation," said Sarah who has also made several suicide attempts to escape social rejection. "A normal person can never understand our state of mind. It is like a soul trapped in a wrong body," she added.
For Sarah, who is also running an NGO by the name of Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA), there is nothing that can stop her now from working openly for the welfare of her community. "I am not ashamed of my sexuality and the best inspiration is that my community needs me," she said.
She requested all public and private sector organisations to provide employment to transgender. "If a man can be popular pretending to be a woman on a TV show then why a real transgender cannot make a career in media," she asked. She also appealed to relevant authorities to speed up the process of registration and start issuing identity cards so that the two per cent quota for transgender can be implemented in the public sector. The news
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