The Jakarta administration, with help from residents, removed 266 hate banners across the city, an official said on Tuesday.
"We ask locals to voluntarily remove the provocative banners to create a peaceful Jakarta ahead of the gubernatorial election," acting Jakarta Governor Sumarsono said.
He added that the Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) would take down the banners designed to discredit incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, if locals did not do it themselves ahead of the election runoff that was slated for April 19.
Several mosques have installed banners emblazoned with messages calling on Muslims to not perform funeral prayers for deceased Muslims found to have voted for Ahok, who is a Christian of Chinese ethnicity.
This messaging has affected a family who claimed that authorities of a local mosque in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, denied their request to hold prayers for their deceased mother because the mother was found to have voted for Ahok in the Feb.15 election.
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