A pop singer who sparked controversy after she was photographed with President Megawati Sukarnoputri's husband is now in trouble with the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) for the way she gyrates on the dance floor.
The council has deemed her performances too provocative for public viewing, but such is Ms Inul Daratista's popularity that she has even been invited to campaign for a political party, reports say.
It was a two-hour show by the singer broadcast by a private television station on Thursday that drew MUI's ire.
'It is none of our business if it happens in a private place like a karaoke hall, but we are concerned about her appearance on television as many people can watch her,' MUI chairman Amidhan said.
'A report of a man raping a girl after watching Inul dance is evidence that the way she dances is not fit for public viewing.'
The 24-year-old singer - whose genre is dangdut or local renditions of popular Bollywood hits - rose from obscurity after VCDs of her performances began to circulate.
From earning 3,500 rupiah (70 Singapore cents) a show in the 1980s when she performed in villages, she recently claimed her monthly income had swelled to 700 million rupiah.
At least until tax officials knocked on her door and her manager quickly rectified the figure.
But despite cheers from her fans, religious leaders have slammed her, calling her performances 'immoral'.
Religious leaders in East Java have advised her to change the way she dances.
The Yogyakarta administration has banned the singer from performing in the province.
But for a number of private television stations, Ms Inul is a gold mine that attracts advertisements and viewers.
President Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas recently asked her to pose with him for a photo after the shooting of his television programme.
The National Awakening Party (PKB) has reportedly asked her to be a lead campaigner in the run-up to the 2004 elections. East Java, where Ms Inul comes from, is one of PKB's strongholds.
Mr Budi Susanto, a researcher of cultural issues from Yogyakarta's Realino Studies Institution, said Ms Inul sparks public controversy because she is such a phenomenon. --The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network