An Indonesia kindergarten apologized on Sunday after dressing children as jihadis for the country’s independence day parade in the city of Probolinggo.
Photos first published by BBC Indonesia from the parade showed a line of young girls dressed in burqas and carrying cardboard assault rifles, shocking onlookers and people across social media.
At a press conference on Sunday, head of the TK Kartika kindergarten “deeply apologized” for the school’s decision, claiming it had not intended to promote violence.
“We raised the theme of the struggle of the Prophet to increase faith and devotion to Allah,” said kindergarten head Hartatik. “There was no intent whatsoever, and we do not seek to instill violence in children.”
Hartatik later told the BBC that the dress was also an attempt to save money by using props they already owned.
“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.”
The parade’s organizer, Lieutenant Colonel Kav Depri Rio Saransi, admitted that his committee had failed to vet costumes, but denied that the parade was intended to promote any form of religious radicalism.
“In the context of the theme given by the principal and the committee chairman, it was purely about educating students on the struggle of Islam,” he said. “There is not the slightest bit of radicalism. I emphasize that purely there is no such thing as an element of intentionally showing the existence of radical activities.”
“We held a cultural parade with the aim of promoting art and culture in Indonesia among the children, so we are sorry this happened,” he continued. “We apologize for the costumes, it was our negligence.”
Leading Indonesian politicians criticized the move. House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo denounced it as an “inappropriate spectacle.”
“Ordering children to wear black veiled costumes and carry replica weapons gives a poor perception,” he said. “Treatment like that could damage children’s ideas.”
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and currently hosting the 18th Asian Games, drawing athletes and spectators from 45 separate countries.
The growth of Islamic extremism remains a concern for many Indonesians, who in recent years have seen a societal shift towards extreme interpretations of Islam and multiple terrorist incidents. An Indonesian government survey last year found that one in four high school and university students believed in jihad as a means of establishing the country as an Islamic caliphate.
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