Sharia police standing at guard, notice that the female officers have to stand at the back.

They say you could spend a year in Banda Aceh but if you don't go to Solong Café, then you never really went to Banda Aceh at all.

Solong is where the writers, politicians, activists and journalists gather to discuss current events. It is the grand meeting centre of this city. It's also where you'll sample some legendary sweet Solong coffee. All this great atmosphere, and hardly a woman in sight. I'm greeted at the entrance with stares and confused looks. If a woman comes to the café alone, there is a social stigma attached. It's OK to come in a group, or with a man, but if she comes on her own, her virtue comes into question.

A woman's virtue is of utmost importance in this part of Indonesia, where the increasingly tight grip of Sharia or Islamic law, administered by scooter-riding Sharia police, is making life difficult for the women in Aceh.

Thousands of well-meaning Canadians could not have predicted that the millions of aid dollars they donated to the victims of the 2004 tsunami would be used to sponsor hardline religious police.

Men gathered to discuss politics at Solong cafe.

After the fall of President Suharto, the central government of Indonesia formalized Sharia law in Aceh. This was a botched attempt to bring peace to the region and gain votes promised by the religious conservatives. At first, the hodge-podge collection of stewards of Sharia law didn't know what to do with this newfound authority — so they went for the easiest target — women. A woman's body is always the easiest battleground for religious zealots. It's hard to monitor honesty and morality but it's easy to chastise a woman if her hair is showing, if her clothes are too tight, if she's talking to a man in private, if she's out after 9 p.m.

Initially, the Sharia officials were toothless tigers in Aceh. Until Boxing Day, 2004. The tsunami took the lives of more than 170,000 people in Indonesia, and the worst-hit area was Banda Aceh. Everybody lost somebody here. Nobody understood why this happened, and they needed answers. That's when the political opportunism of religious conservatives came into play.

When the thousands bodies of women were found after the tsunami, almost all of them were naked. The sarongs and nightgowns they would have been wearing in their homes the morning of the tsunami were ripped right off their bodies by the force of the water. But conservatives pointed at the naked bodies as examples of the immorality of Muslim women. They said that God punished Aceh because the women didn't wear the jilbab, the Indonesian term for hijab or headscarf.

The water that hit Banda Aceh, at one point reached 50 metres high in the air, and it came with such force that entire homes and buildings were swept away. The conservatives refuse to accept that it was perhaps the force of the water that removed the women's clothing. In their minds, or at least in their propaganda, there were hordes of immoral women roaming around somewhere on this Muslim island, naked in the streets.

In the centre of the city, local officials put up a poster of a naked woman's body with a caption declaring that women caused the tsunami.

To make sure God doesn't punish them again, the Achenese were told they had to become better Muslims. This has given the Sharia police a type of moral authority that few dare question. Things have become so dogmatic in the region that all musical concerts must take place during the day, so women aren't strolling the city at night. All movie theatres have been shut down because men and women should not be sitting together in darkness.

Hundreds of Westerners, representing the dozens of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are working in Banda Aceh today. Few of them are willing to speak out against the mistreatment of women. There are double standards here for the Westerners. There are separate beaches, cafes and dress codes for Westerners.

Sharia law has done nothing to bring stability to this region. It is still one of the most corrupt places in Indonesia. There is a massive problem with spousal abuse, citizens are publicly caned for gambling and drunkenness, and routine Sharia police sweeps where women are dragged away for not dressing appropriately, have brought an underlying anxiety to the city.

Most people have difficulty accepting the current Sharia law, but they say the problem isn't the religious aspect, it is the implementation. Almost everyone says that it will be impossible to remove Sharia from Aceh now, it is too deeply entrenched. The task now has to be to adapt it into something the people can live with.

For centuries Aceh has been called the veranda to Mecca, but the truth is the Acehnese don't want a Saudi Sharia law, they want the pluralistic and moderate form of religious governance. Something more in line with the norms of an Islam that is uniquely Indonesian. An Islam that would allow men and women to enjoy a cup of coffee at Solong café together.

In the coming weeks, I will bring you more stories about the women of Banda Aceh, those who are fighting against Sharia law, and those who have been trusted to enforce it.

Letters

Thank you Natasha Fatah for reporting on the women of Aceh. Even non-Muslim Acehnese women are required to wear the jilbab. I have read about these women in Aceh undergoing humiliating searches and limits on their liberty on an Indonesian women's mailing list.

A pregnant woman in Java waiting for her husband to pick her up after work in the evening was arrested for prostitution. Indonesia is being influenced by Saudi Arabian donations and politics. More and more women are wearing tent-like dresses and taking on the responsibility for men's lack of responsibility for controlling their lust.

The former president of Indonesia, Gus Dur, is an amazing advocate for moderation and he is a Muslim cleric. I pray Indonesia doesn't end up like Iran.

– Lisa Penney | Vancouver

Thank you very much for your recent report from Aceh; it's critically important that we in the (relatively) free nations understand the human rights situation of other countries.

Outrage without an outlet turns to poison in our hearts. As you continue to report on womens' issues in Indonesia, please provide your readers with some way to respond: for example, by identifying human rights NGOs which are addressing the problem, so that readers may take action through them.

– David Bassano | Albany, NY

Thank you Natasha, for another interesting and insightful article. Your observation of religious fascists picking on women's bodies as the "easiest targets" needs to be spoken again and again until it becomes understood as common knowledge.

This line of reasoning should be intuitively obvious to us all, but at the present time it is not. Keep up the good work!

– Karis | Waterloo

I'd like to commend the excellent journalism of Natasha Fatah. I found today's article on the Sharia police in Banda Aceh to be informative and revealing.

I look forward to hearing more about the parts of the world that I'll not likely ever visit , like Indonesia , but my tax dollars will go in my place.

– H. (Bart) Vincelette | Vancouver