Get rid of the religious bigots

Is this how democracy best works in Malaysia, with the dominant race always threatening to 'finish off' the rest?

COMMENT

It is tough times ahead for the non-Muslims of this country, going by the antics of entities like Perkasa and Jati who are doing all they can to turn the former into non-persona grata.

There is no denying that as long as Perkasa and Jati exist, the affection and trust between Muslim and non-Muslims will always be strained.

Both Perkasa and Jati are notorious for causing a rift between the non-Muslim and Muslims.

In fact, the worst damage to national unity has come from entities like Perkasa and Jati – be it acts of decapitating and desecrating cow heads, ridiculing the Hindu idols, threatening anyone who dared question Article 153 of the Federal Constitution that safeguards Malay rights and privileges, calls to burn the Malay bibles and the latest being demands that the Embassy of the Holy See in Kuala Lumpur get rid of its ambassador Archbishop Joseph Marino because the latter praised a local church’s campaign to include the Arabic word ‘Allah’ to refer to God among Christians.

In Marino’s case, Perkasa and Jati wasted no time in marching to the embassy of the Holy See demanding that the Vatican appoint a new envoy to Malaysia.

When no one from the embassy turned up to entertain the antics of Perkasa and Jati led by their founders Ibrahim Ali and Hasan Ali respectively, Ibrahim was forced to hand over his protest note to the police guard.

If that was not good enough for Ibrahim, he had the gall to paste a copy of the protest note on the embassy’s guard house wall.

Marino has since the uproar tendered an apology but as always ‘sorry’ has never been enough for Perkasa and Jati, infamous for their extremist views and anti-national outlook.

Even the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) is not satisfied with an apology from the Vatican’s envoy.

Mais claims Marino’s comment over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians in Malaysia was tantamount to contempt of the rule of law assented to by the Malay rulers.

Mais chairperson Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa said Marino, had incurred the anger of Muslims at a time when they were observing the Ramadan fast.

How has the archbishop raised the ire of the Muslims when it was the truth that he had lent support to?

Is this how democracy best works in Malaysia, with the dominant race always threatening to ‘finish off’ the rest?

No ‘copyright’ over religion

It is befuddling as to why Perkasa, Jati, the state rulers and Malay scholars refuse to accept the fact that the word ‘Allah’ can be used by the other races as well?

Why is there the animosity when it comes to worshiping the Creator, when there is ample evidence that ‘Allah’ is not exclusive to the Malays alone?

Indeed, when the rulers of state bar the non-Muslims from practising what is their fundamental right, it becomes clear that the non-Muslims have become enemies of the state and have been relegated to the status of non-persona grata.

While Mohamad Adzib is urging relevant authorities such as the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), the police and the Home Ministry to act firmly against any Muslim or non-Muslim individual who intentionally insult the sanctity of Islam, whom do the non-Muslims turn to for help when agencies like Perkim (Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam Malaysia) unabashedly try to convert them to Islam?

This was what a friend of mine faced just days before the fasting month began. She was at the Sungai Wang Plaza when several men from Perkim approached her armed with a barrage of questions concerning the fasting month of Ramadan.

The Perkim staff was not out to test my friend’s understanding or knowledge of the fasting month. Rather, he was hoping to ‘earn’ a brownie point by getting my friend to renounce her Christian faith.

In the end, before my friend could take off, the Perkim representative still adamant that she give ‘leave Christianity and join Islam’ a thought, placed in her hands a copy of the Quran translated into English, ‘A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam’ by I.A. Ibrahim, ‘Have You Discovered Its Real Beauty’ by Dr Naji Ibrahim Arfaj and ‘What Allah says in the Quran The Truth about Jesus Christ’.

My friend ended up with unsolicited information and a copy of the Quran and other Islamic paraphernalia – what should a non-Muslim person make out of all this? Or how should she or he react?

Had my friend adopted the insensitive ‘Perkasa-Jati’ approach, she would have given the Perkim official a piece of her mind for accosting her with unwelcomed details about Islam.

Instead, she thanked him for sharing all that which he did and for the Quran etc.

My friend was not pleased with that experience which left her wondering why the double standard practiced by the government when it comes to proselytisation?

Live and let live

Looks like the day of reckoning for ‘shit-stirrers’ like Perkasa and Jati might just never arrive.

Meanwhile, the non-Muslims of this country suffer, their right to address their Creator denied them by the influential race.

Will there come a day for Malaysia when race and religion will never make news for the wrong reasons?

Or for that matter when will the day be when the Malays will stop eyeing the non-Muslims with mistrust and suspicions?

Who has authorised Perkasa and Jati as keepers of morality and faith, so much so that the non-Muslims have to beg to justify their own existence?

For how long more do Perkasa and Jati intend to go on feeling insecure and threatened each time the non-Muslims try claiming what is rightfully theirs?

Hard to swallow as it may be but the truth is Malaysia can only be at peace with the demise of set-ups like Perkasa and Jati, both which continue to receive the blessings of the country’s largest political party Umno.

Until then, when truth is spoken, there is no telling the severity of the repercussions, as happened to Marino who was summoned to Wisma Putra by Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and ‘lectured’ to be mindful of the religious sensitivities of the country.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.