A recent ruling at a state-run school in Indonesia"s West Sumatra Province has caused a stir. According to The Jakarta Post reporting on 28 January 2021, all girls at the school now have to wear
the hijab as part of their uniform, regardless of their religion.
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The
new Minister of Religion (WWR, 3 February 2021) immediately stepped in - joined by the Minister of Education - to state that state-run schools in Indonesia need to be free from such rules. He also pointed out that the case in West Sumatra was just the
tip of the iceberg (Reuters, 4 February 2021). According to several NGOs and Human Rights organizations, there are similar rules in state schools in more than 20 provinces. The decisive test will now be whether national politicians have the authority to moderate and, where necessary, to oppose local resistance for the sake of religious minorities in the country."
Thomas Muller adds: "However, problems for Christian students are not limited to being forced to wear Islamic attire as a report in the Jakarta Post from 4 February 2021 showed. They can be accused of carrying out "˜missionary activities", when they are merely living according to their faith. The topic of
conversion is particularly controversial and can quickly bring students into hot water and the pressure on converts from Islam to Christianity is especially high, as the report explains."
