Yasir Neneama, a reporter based in Jakarta, had a wish to see an old mosque in his hometown of Horinara village in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), receive a much-needed renovation as it hadn’t had a facelift since 1986.
Yasir started an online fundraising campaign in October on local crowdfunding website KitaBisa.com. But, despite how well the fundraiser started, it hit a huge stumbling block when some people questioned his intentions. That’s because Yasir works for Kompas TV, a network that has recently been labeled as anti-Islamic by some.
Yasir received comments on Facebook by people who suspected that the fundraiser was a ploy by Kompas TV to fix the channel’s image to appease Muslims. One commenter above even questioned if Yasir existed at all.
As a result, Yasir’s fundraiser was temporarily shut down by KitaBisa to avoid any controversy, particularly as it coincided with the November 4 mass protest against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for alleged anti-Islam remarks.
“From Wednesday to Thursday these accounts (on Facebook) started popping up questioning if this is really [a fundraiser] by Kompas TV’s Yasir Neneama. Some commented negatively. The next day, that Friday, was the November 4 protest,” Yasir told Tribun yesterday.
“So to prevent mucking up the situation even more, the campaign was wiped from KitaBisa.com. [The reason] was to prevent those who wanted to take advantage of the campaign for negative things, so it was temporarily deleted.”
Thankfully, the campaign re-appeared on the website on November 7. At the time of writing, Yasir’s campaign has collected Rp 389 million, just a little bit shy of his Rp 400 million target. If you wish to donate to the campaign, you can do so here.
Is Kompas TV anti-Islam?
Kompas TV isn’t exactly seen as impartial by hardline Islamic groups in Indonesia, such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). One case that illustrates this is when FPI accused Kompas TV of launching an “Anti-Islamic Sharia Campaign” based on their coverage of a Ramadan raid and food confiscation from an old woman’s warung in Banten. Following that story, representatives of the FPI visited editorial heads at Kompas to demand an explanation for their perceived anti-Islam stance.
That meeting seemingly did nothing to improve Kompas TV’s reputation in the eyes of hardline Muslims. Following the November 4 protest, Muhammad Guntur, a Kompas TV cameraman, was accused by hardliners on social media of having instigated a riot by throwing a water bottle at the riot police and then filming the ensuing scene. Luckily, Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) scholar Din Syamsuddin vouched for Guntur’s innocence, and the original poster retracted and apologized for the accusations against Guntur.
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