Racist Banner Protests the Establishment of Movie Theater
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17 January 2020 15:35 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An East Jakarta mass-organization named the Gabungan Ormas Islam Betawi (GOIB) or association of Islamic Betawi organizations, announced in a racist banner that it will hold a rally on Friday, January 17, against the establishment of a movie theater in a local shopping center, Pusat Grosir Cililitan (PGC).
The group attempted to invite locals to join the rally by placing a provocative banner containing racial narratives against Chinese descents. The banner dubbed “defending Islam and indigenous people rally” also became viral on social media platforms.
Tempo was also unable to track down the parties who placed the banner beside a busy public street. However, the banner had been taken down yesterday. According to the locals, a number of people took the banner down after it went viral.
A person Tempo met at the As-Sinah Mosque in PGC, which was mentioned in the banner, revealed that information of such rally came from the PGC building management and refuses to be linked to such rally.
“You can reach building management, we were made aware of it by them. We won’t provide any statement,” said the man.
Based on the banner, the rally calls people to protest against the construction of the XXI movie theater that sits close to the As-Sinah Mosque located in PGC’s seventh floor.
The Jakarta MetroPolice visited the home of Andy M. Sholeh in Cililitan, Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, in relation to the racist banner to gather statements. According to Adj. Sr. Comsr. Jerry R. Siagian, Andy M. Sholeh admitted he was the person who installed the banner.
ADAM PRIREZA | M YUSUF MANURUNG