Indonesian minors made to wear 'militant' costumes in school event

An Indonesian kindergarten apologised after dressing girls up in black costumes associated with the militant Islamic State and replica rifles for an independence day parade, according to The Guardian.

Girls from TK Kartika Kindergarten in Probolinggo, East Java were shown marching on the street wearing black outfits with niqabs and carrying cardboard cutouts of rifles in photos from the parade.

On Independence Day yesterday, a video of a schoolboy climbing a flagpole in west Timor went viral on Indonesian social media. Today another video went viral: kindergarteners in black niqab carrying guns joined Independence Day carnival in Probolinggo, East Java #17an #RI73 pic.twitter.com/yN9tdyZwz5

— Yenni Kwok (@yennikwok) August 18, 2018

The head of the educational institution apologised for the costumes, and said they were not trying to “instil violence” in children.

The kindergarten in question is located on the site of an Indonesian military complex and the parade took place a day after Indonesia’s independence day on August 17. The country is home to the world’s largest Muslim population.



The head of the kindergarten, Hartatik, admitted they had pooled props from previous years to save money as an explanation for why these particular costumes were chosen.

“We used it to save funds,” Hartatik told BBC Indonesia. “[We] never thought about the impact. The important thing is to take part in the parade, that the children were happy, using the existing property.” However, no explanation as to why the terrorist-style costumes had been used before was offered.

At a media conference after the event caused the uproar, Probolinggo military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Kav Depri Rio Saransi said the intention was to educate children about the “struggle of Islam” and not to promote militancy.



“There is not the slightest bit of radicalism. I emphasise that purely there is no such thing as an element of intentionally showing the existence of radical activities,” he said.

The parade went viral on social media in Indonesia the same day the 18^th Asian Games opened in Jakarta. The incident is an embarrassing slip-up for the country as the massive sporting event puts it in the spotlight. 45 countries participate in the Asian Games, making it the largest event of its kind after the Olympics.

 

This article originally appeared on The Guardian.