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Music

Punk vs. Sharia

Tracking down the last punks of Aceh, Indonesia, who still live under constant threat from the Sharia police.

Indonesia's punk scene is one of the biggest and most vibrant in the world. It's a place where the country's silenced youth can revolt against endemic corruption, social conventions, and their strict families. But in the world's largest Islamic nation, political authorities and religious fundamentalists persecute this rebellious youth movement.

Nowhere is the anti-punk sentiment stronger than in Aceh—Indonesia's only Sharia province—where 65 punks were arrested and detained at an Islamic moral training camp in which they had their heads shaved and clothes burnt. We traveled to North Sumatra to track down the last punks in Aceh, who still live under constant threat from the Sharia police.