After weeks of pressure, threats and (baseless) accusations of proselytizing from a local Islamic extremist group, the leaders of the NGO Sanggar Rebung Cendani have closed a recently opened public children's library in West Java. The library was called Taman Bacaan Masyarakat, or TBM, which stands for Center for Free Reading. It is located in the village of Kalimulya in the Depock district of Bogor in West Java.
The director, Yoseph Budisantoso, confirmed the closure of the library's activities. "It all started in December, just before Christmas," he told AsiaNews, "when some fundamentalist Islamist leaders made false accusations, claiming that TBM was a center aimed at spreading the Catholic faith." He added that for some time, an extremist wing had been promoting attacks and provocations to cast a shadow over the center's humanitarian efforts and prevent it from spreading education in rural areas and among the poor sections of the population.
The Sangar Rebung Cendani group, which is active in the province's rural areas, works to drastically reduce illiteracy among children, as well as to promote the joy of reading among children. The NGO also supports projects aimed at environmentally friendly and "green" education policies, again with a focus on rural children.
Among the many threats and demands made by the extremists to Sanggar Rebung Cendani is a demand to publish all the names and addresses of those who have supported the various projects, as well as the size of their donations. Budisantoso emphasizes that all the projects the group has started so far have had an interfaith aim, but proudly expresses his own Catholic faith. He also expressed his deep compassion for all the local people who have shown great commitment and willingness to support his humanitarian project on several occasions, despite the insults and threats of extremists.
Source: AsiaNews
