JAKARTA: An Indonesian group on Wednesday slammed a ‘fatwa’ on ahugely-popular but brutal online game, citing insult to their religion andmaking players addicted and violent.
The religious edict, issued in conservative Aceh province, comes afterofficials in Iraq, Nepal, and India’s Gujarat banned Player Unknown’sBattlegrounds (PUBG) over fears it incited real-world violence.
Often likened to the blockbuster book and film series *The Hunger Games*,PUBG pits marooned characters against each another in a virtual fight tothe death and has become one of the world’s most popular mobile games.
On Wednesday, the Aceh chapter of Muslim-majority Indonesia’s powerfulUlema Council called on local residents to ditch PUBG and said the localgovernment should consider an outright ban.
Breaking the ‘fatwa’ would not result in sanctions, it said, but thegroup’s national chapter has also been mulling a similar call to ditchviolent games.
The edict in Aceh would apply to other violent games but the Council didnot say which.
“Our fatwa says that PUBG and other similar games are *haram* [forbidden]because they can trigger violence and change people’s behaviour,” AcehUlema Council Deputy Chairperson Faisal Ali said.
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“It also insults Islam,” he told AFP, without elaborating how it does so.
Religious officials were alarmed at PUBG’s soaring popularity among Aceh’smostly Muslim residents.
“We’ve seen that children and, even adults, in Aceh are starting to getaddicted to the game and they’re playing it everywhere on their mobilephones,” Ali said.
“It’s getting worrying.” He added.
At the tip of Sumatra island, Aceh is the only region in Indonesia withIslamic law and where public flogging is a common punishment for a range ofoffences, including selling alcohol, adultery, and same-sex relationships.-APP/AFP
