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Karanganyar, Central Java. An Islamic school that has refused to hold the mandatory flag-raising ceremony is acting on statements made by the country’s highest Islamic authority, an official said on Wednesday.

Yopy Eko Jati Wibowo, head of Tawangmangu subdistrict in Karanganyar, said the Al Irsyad Al Islamiyyah Junior High School had based its refusal on a statement made earlier this year by Cholil Ridwan, deputy chairman of proselytization at the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI).

“Sutardi, the head of the school, told me they refused to salute the flag because of a leaflet issued by Cholil, in which he said such an act was considered heretical and a shirking of one’s duties to God,” he said.

However, Zaenuddin, the district chairman of the MUI, said the council had never officially backed that viewpoint. “That was Cholil’s private statement, not an official statement from the MUI,” he said.

“In the discourse of national insight, reverence for the national flag cannot be equated to the worship of God. The issue should be resolved through sustained dialogue.”

The refusal by the junior high school and the Al Bani Primary School to hold the weekly flag-raising ceremony has led to threats by Karanganyar district head Rina Iriani to close down both establishments.

On Wednesday, however, Rina said she had received reports that seven teachers at state schools in the district were also flouting the ministerial decree requiring students to salute the flag and sing the national anthem.

“They’re all teachers at public schools, with the status of civil servants, hence they are bound by state regulations on how to behave toward state symbols [such as the flag],” she said. “We’ll try to talk sense into them, but if they remain belligerent, we’ll have to fire them.”

Sri Suranto, head of Karanganyar’s education and sports office, said he would summon the seven teachers in question for clarification.

“There is no tolerance for civil servants who refuse to salute the national flag or sing the national anthem,” he said. “If they can’t be reprimanded or rehabilitated, then we’ll impose sanctions that could range from dismissal from their teaching posts, to dismissal from the civil service.”

If fired from the bureaucracy, the teachers would lose all benefits enjoyed by civil servants, including pensions.