Sukmawati Sukarnoputri, Daughter Of Indonesia's Founder Sukarno, Converts To Hinduism From Islam

The daughter of Indonesia’s founding president Sukarno on Tuesday gave up Islam and embraced Hinduism, in a move that human rights and political observers held up as evidence of religious pluralism in the world’s most populous Muslim country.

Some went a step further to say that Sukmawati Sukarnoputri’s religious conversion – which would be considered blasphemous in other Muslim-majority nations including Malaysia – could be interpreted as her opposition to the growth in political Islam in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Officials in the nation of 270 million people, where 86 per cent of residents are Muslim, have in the last decade sought a larger role for Islam across society and politics, while Indonesia continues to grapple with radicalisation and militancy.

Sukmawati Sukarnoputri is the third daughter of Sukarno and the younger sister of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who leads President Joko Widodo’s ruling party.

Sukmawati Sukarnoputri,70, has been a target of Islamic fundamentalists in Indonesia. In 2018, hardline Islamic groups filed a blasphemy complaint against Sukmawati Sukarnoputri , accusing her of reciting a poem insulting Islam.

A poem composed and recited by Sukmawati Sukarnoputri at Indonesia's Fashion Week, which praised Indonesian hair bun has prettier than the full-faced veil worn by strict Muslims, faced the wrath of Islamic groups. They also alleged that her prayer had denigrated the azaan, a form of Islamic prayer.

#Indonesia #SukmawatiSukarnoputri #Hinduism

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