Feminist music event in Indonesia disrupted by Islamic hard-liners; woman attacked, shot fired

Islamic fundamentalists disrupted a feminist music event in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on April 2. A shot was fired by a plain-clothes police officer during the chaos that erupted at the end of the Lady Fast event, according to a report posted by the music blog UniteAsia.org.

Lady Fast featured live shows and the screening of a documentary, Ini Scene Kami Juga! (This Is Our Scene Too), about the involvement of women in Indonesia’s hardcore/punk scene, according to a report posted by the music blog UniteAsia.org.

Kolektif Betina (Female Collective), the group that organised Lady Fast, wrote on its Facebook page that the documentary celebrated the involvement of women in the country’s extreme music scene and dealt with gender issues, sexism, sexuality and activism.

Towards the end of the event, organisers say, the venue in Yogyakarta’s Bantul town was stormed by about 15 fundamentalists, who insulted people attending the event and attacked at least one woman while shouting Islamic slogans.

“A representative of Lady Fast and the co-owner of the venue continued to try to [engage in] dialogue with the group, but ... were not well received and insults were hurled again. There were accusations of ‘damage of morale’ and this being an ‘immoral place’. The group threatened that 500 people would attack the event. They showed a gesture that would assume physical violence,” Kolektif Betina wrote on its Facebook page.