Contestants at the Miss World beauty pageant to be held later this year in Indonesia will not wear bikinis to avoid offending Muslims, an organizer said.
“There will be no bikinis and the contestants will not wear clothes that violate Indonesia’s cultural and religious values,” said Syafrul Nasution, corporate affairs director for RCTI, the official broadcaster of the event and organizer.
“The beach fashion session will feature the traditional Balinese sarong so that contestants are covered and will look modest,” he said.
The Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholars has said that the beauty pageant could tarnish Indonesia as a majority-Muslim nation.
The final of the contest is due to take place in Sentul on the outskirts of Jakarta on September 28.
Last year the authorities in Jakarta refused to issue a concert permit for eccentric American pop diva Lady Gaga following protests by hardline Muslim groups that said her stage act was pornographic.