An Indonesian flag is seen during a protest by Muslim groups against Jakarta’s Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 4, 2016. Picture taken November 4, 2016. REUTERS/Beawiharta
Source: Reuters International
By Kanupriya Kapoor and Agustinus Beo Da Costa
JAKARTA (Reuters) – When Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama had some of the capital’s sprawling slums levelled this spring, Muslim groups including the hardline “Islamic Defenders Front” (FPI) moved in quickly to help some of the city’s poorest residents.
The offer of food, shelter, clothes and money was a lifeline to the struggling families. But religious conservatives, who had long opposed Purnama because he was a Christian, did not stop there.
After a video circulated in October of Purnama, also known as “Ahok”, making comments that some Muslims said insulted the Koran, the FPI went into overdrive.
It called for his arrest, bombarded its social media pages with fiery messages and rallied some 150,000 protesters to the streets of the capital earlier this month.
With another mass protest slated for Dec. 2, the FPI has helped trigger a crisis that has engulfed President Joko Widodo, seen as a close ally of Purnama, and damaged the hitherto popular governor’s hopes of re-election in a ballot in February.
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hardline-islamists-push-agenda-as-blasphemy-case-ignites-indonesia/42716772
Surprisingly the article does not mention that the son of the previous President wants to be Governor of Jakarta. And, as Bismark said: “Do not believe anything until it has officially been denied”. The son of the previous Governor, although not accused, has already denied that he is behind the current attacks on the present Governor of Jakarta …