There have been numerous stories about people promoting hatred and fear for political gain during the the Jakarta gubernatorial election, but this is probably the worst of them.
Last month, a Facebook user by the name of Dwi Ardika, who appears to be an active supporter of hardline Islamic groups who oppose incumbent Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama because of his religion and his alleged blasphemy against Islam, posted several statuses on Facebook denouncing Ahok’s supporters in the most despicable, hateful ways imaginable.
Though Dwi’s Facebook account has been deleted, screenshots of his posts are circulating on social media. Most of them essentially call Ahok and his supporters hypocrites, but one post is especially troubling:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=242110429585102&set=pcb.242110992918379&type=3&theater
The top paragraph of the first post above reads: “Essentially, those who support Ahok are dumb and immoral… Their murder and their blood is halal, and it’s also halal to gang rape the women.”
An activist group called Indonesian Women Against Violence yesterday reported the Facebook post to the police for incitement of hatred under the Criminal Code.
“It reminds one of the 1998 (riots), before the systemic gang rapes,” said the group’s coordinator, Ita Fadia Nadia, after filing the report at the Jakarta Metro Police Headquarters yesterday, as quoted by Tribun.
Ita was referring to the racially-fuelled May 1998 riots in Jakarta, during which 1,000 were reportedly killed and 87 women, mostly of Chinese descent, were raped by rioters and rape squads, allegedly led by army thugs.
The police have not yet made any arrests regarding Dwi’s post.
As racially and religiously charged as the recent protests against Ahok in Jakarta have been, they were relatively peaceful (with one notable exception) despite leaders of hardline groups like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leading chants justifying Ahok’s murder.
But a call to sexually assault women and justifying it as halal because they support Ahok is dangerous in a whole different way, given the historical weight of the threat.
Valentina Sagala, another member of the group, said that the report was not about the election or supporting a particular candidate. It was about making sure that women wouldn’t have to worry about threats of violence, no matter which candidate they choose.
