https://restofworld.org/2023/indonesia-influencer-faces-jail-pork-eating-tiktok/
In a TikTok clip posted on March 9, Indonesian influencer Lina Luftiawati, who uses the stage name Lina Mukherjee, sits in front of a plate of rice, vegetables, and a slab of crispy pork skin. As a Muslim, Mukherjee’s religion forbids the consumption of pig meat. “Bismillah, I think I will be taken off my family [register] because I’m curious about pork skin,” she says to the camera, giggling, before she tucks in.
One week, 13 million views, and scores of angry comments later, the country’s top Muslim clerical body issued a fatwa — a ruling on Islamic law — against Mukherjee. In its fatwa, the Indonesian Ulema Council said it considered the clip blasphemous. On March 15, a Muslim cleric in South Sumatra filed a police report in Palembang, a city with strong representation from the religious right.
Last week, on May 5, the influencer was officially named a suspect in a blasphemy case. She now faces up to five years’ jail under Indonesia’s blasphemy and hate speech laws….
For her part, Mukherjee apologized for the video and promised to be more mindful of her social media content in the future. “I apologize to the people of Indonesia, because as a public figure I made a mistake. In the future, I will use my social media better [for more] useful [content],” she told local media in early May. Despite religious factions in Palembang lobbying for her to be held in detention, she remains at home while police investigate the case.
In a TikTok clip posted on March 9, Indonesian influencer Lina Luftiawati, who uses the stage name Lina Mukherjee, sits in front of a plate of rice, vegetables, and a slab of crispy pork skin. As a Muslim, Mukherjee’s religion forbids the consumption of pig meat. “Bismillah, I think I will be taken off my family [register] because I’m curious about pork skin,” she says to the camera, giggling, before she tucks in.
One week, 13 million views, and scores of angry comments later, the country’s top Muslim clerical body issued a fatwa — a ruling on Islamic law — against Mukherjee. In its fatwa, the Indonesian Ulema Council said it considered the clip blasphemous. On March 15, a Muslim cleric in South Sumatra filed a police report in Palembang, a city with strong representation from the religious right.
Last week, on May 5, the influencer was officially named a suspect in a blasphemy case. She now faces up to five years’ jail under Indonesia’s blasphemy and hate speech laws….
For her part, Mukherjee apologized for the video and promised to be more mindful of her social media content in the future. “I apologize to the people of Indonesia, because as a public figure I made a mistake. In the future, I will use my social media better [for more] useful [content],” she told local media in early May. Despite religious factions in Palembang lobbying for her to be held in detention, she remains at home while police investigate the case.
