Lady Gaga banned from concert in Jakarta
Indonesian police have received complaints from Islamists calling the artist "satanic" because of his daring outfits and his pro-gay stance.
Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, has banned Lady Gaga's concert in the capital, Jakarta. The concert which was to take place on June 3 will likely be canceled after the multiple complaints filed by the country's Islamists. "We are not going to grant a permit for Lady Gaga's concert in Jakarta, the concert will have to be canceled," said a spokesperson for the national police. However, it is not excluded that the artist performs outside the capital. "It all depends on the city police" in question, he added.
Indonesian police say they received a complaint from the Council of Ulemas, the country's highest Islamic religious body. The Council had severely criticized the arrival of the star in extravagant outfits. “I call on Lady Gaga to respect our culture and our traditions. Most of the people here are Muslims and we cannot tolerate sexy outfits and performances, ”said the head of the council.
Committed to the defense of gay rights, Lady Gaga is one of the celebrities who congratulated US President Barack Obama "for being the first to support equality in marriage."
The opposition to Lady Gaga, however, did not discourage her Indonesian fans, since the 50,000 tickets for the concert sold out in two weeks.
Lady Gaga began her world tour, The Born This Way Ball Tour 2012, on April 27 in Seoul, which has already taken her to Hong Kong and Tokyo. The concerts have so far provoked only relatively limited demonstrations of opposition. However, her first show, in Korea, was banned for minors, under pressure from Christian associations across the country who claimed that the song Born This Way was a "song of Satan and that Lady Gaga is obscene."
