JAKARTA, (AFP)-A newly-appointed local head in Indonesian Borneo has ordered women employees of the district administration to wear veils.
Rudy Arifin, sworn in as head of the Banjar district in South Kalimantan, immediately announced the new veil policy, the Satunet online news agency said.
"All women employees in the Banjar district administration are Muslims and according to Islamic laws, the head is part of the body that should be covered," Arifin said shortly after his swearing in.
But he added he would not force any women who object to donning the veil to follow the new policy.
"If anybody objects, we will not force them, but I really hope that this policy will be respected," he said.
The report did not say how many women are employed by the district administration, but it quoted most female staff saying they would abide by the new policy.
Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population with over 80 percent of its some 210 million people following Islam.
The Indonesian constitution, however, provides equal footing to all religions and the state views any attempt to impose a religion on the state as subversion.
