The workplace of Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas rubbished “scam” Facebook posts declaring he recommended the federal government reallocate funds for the Islamic hajj expedition to fund the building and construction of the nation’s brand-new capital. The posts shared a doctored news post that initially reported on Yaqut coming under fire over his Eid message in 2022 — not discuss hajj funds.
“The federal government resemble hooligans. Their task is obtaining individuals’s cash over and over once again,” checked out an Indonesian-language Facebook post from May 30.
The post appeared to reveal a report with an image of Yaqut along with the heading: “Spiritual affairs minister asked public to enable federal government to utilize hajj fund for brand-new capital”.
Indonesia’s federal government handles funds from its Muslim population for the Islamic hajj expedition to the holy city of Capital through an independent body called the Hajj Fund Management Company (BPKH) (archived links here and here).
The BPKH handled more than US$10 billion since December 2023 (archived link).
The capital of Southeast Asia’s most significant economy will officially relocate August from traffic-clogged and sinking Jakarta to the scheduled city of Nusantara.
The tradition task by outbound Indonesian President Joko Widodo has actually been obstructed by an absence of foreign financial investment, land ownership concerns and hold-ups.
The doctored report made the rounds on Facebook here, here, here and here, triggering a flurry of criticism of Yaqut.
“In order to go on hajj, individuals conserve up. How can the cash all of a sudden be utilized to construct the brand-new capital?” one Facebook user commented.
Another called Yaqut’s supposed remarks “ruthless”.
Nevertheless, the spiritual affairs ministry’s West Sumatra workplace published on June 4 that the claim was a “scam” (archived link).
“Because 2018, the Religious Affairs Ministry has no longer end up being the celebration accountable for handling the hajj fund as it has actually ended up being the BPKH’s authority,” it included.
The ministry refuted a comparable rumour back in 2022 (archived link).
AFP discovered no reports that Yaqut made the supposed remarks, since June 14, 2024.
Doctored heading
Furthermore, the news post screenshot shared in Facebook posts is controlled.
The press reporter’s name is offered as “Tim PRMN 02” and the publication date as Might 5, 2022.
Keywords searches discovered the initial report released by Indonesian paper Pikiran Rakyat, which includes the very same picture, byline and publication date (archived link).
Nevertheless, the initial heading read: “Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas asked to step down from function following Eid message”.
Yaqut came under fire for describing the youth wing of a Muslim organisation in his 2022 Eid message, which critics provided as proof he was acting in the interest of the group instead of common Indonesians (archived link).
Below is a screenshot contrast in between the doctored post (left) and Pikiran Rakyat’s initial report (right):
Yaqut published the picture of himself seen in the post on Instagram on October 27, 2021 and stated it revealed him speaking at university occasion (archived link).
