Indonesia protests mar start of Miss World

The 63rd Miss World beauty pageant has opened in Indonesia after protests by Muslim hardliners confined the event to the predominantly Hindu resort island of Bali.

The opening ceremony, which was televised to 186 countries, featured Bali’s Kecak Dance and a parade of all 131 contestants.

Days of protests by Muslim groups and the rejection of the contest by a leading clerics’ organisation had forced the government to move the Sept 28 final round to Bali. The pageant was initially set to be held in Sentul, on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta.

Bali is the only Hindu-dominated province in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country.

Controversy over the pageant has been mounting in Indonesia, which has a reputation as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.

The Indonesia Ulema Council, the country’s most influential clerics’ body, and the hardline groups Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Front for Islamic Defenders have urged the government to cancel the event.

They argued that the exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings, even after organisers agreed to cut the bikini competition and outfit contestants in sarongs.

The chairwoman of the Miss World Organisation, Julia Morley, has promised that none of the contestants will wear a bikini.

“We only want to try to find the best way of working together,” she said.

Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular country of 240m, are moderate, but a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

Lady Gaga was forced to cancel her sold-out concert in Indonesia in May following threats by Islamic hardliners.