by Haider Yutim
Malaysian Digest
Wednesday, 18 May 2011

The nation is shaken again by an inter-religion strife after an arguably unsubstantiated news report from Utusan Malaysia entitled ‘Kristian Agama Rasmi?’. The allegation of a ‘Christian conspiracy’ that came out on front-page was akin to pouring gasoline over sparks that’s been kept under control by the government. And all it took was a three-word headline. A police report was lodged against the alleged conspiracy by DAP Bukit Tumba branch committee member Mohamed Razali Abdul Rahman who purportedly witnessed the so-called secret pact between DAP leaders and pastors at a hotel in Penang. Following Razali’s police report, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar stated that investigations into an alleged Christian plot to unseat Islam as the federal religion was a priority for the police.

The Crusade era is long gone but there is always since the whole ‘Allah’ usage issue, there’s always been someone or something else that comes up that puts the Muslim-Christian relations in jeopardy. To make it worse, there’s always that idiot that would fan the flames to make the issue bigger that it really is. We’ve been living harmoniously in a multicultural, multi-religious society since we could remember and presently there is no reason for Malaysians to go through racial or religious conflict unless some jackass decides to incite others.

Utusan At It Again

It all started with a few pro-Umno bloggers who made the claim on the alleged ‘Christian conspiracy. And then Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia decided to pick up on these bloggers’ allegations by carrying a front-page article with that intriguing headline. That was more than enough to get the media, political leaders, NGOs and activists going. On one hand they wanted action to be taken against Utusan for publishing such a dangerous front-page article. On the other hand they wanted the authorities to get to the bottom of the issue in case there’s truth in the allegations.

As it is, many seem to be unsatisfied by a ‘relaxed’ action taken by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein against Utusan. A letter of caution? That’s it? How thorough is a publication company as strong as Utusan who published a made-up story based on the wild allegations by two pro-Umno bloggers who had no proof to back up their claim? The whole thing triggered an unnecessary uproar. Bear in mind, a few weeks ago there was that call for “1Melayu 1 Bumi” movement made by the daily.

Perkasa Wages Holy War

You just don’t play around when it comes to religious and racial issues. All Malaysians should know this by now. As a matter of fact, seeing Malaysia is one of the most culturally diverse nations, if there’s anyone who is sensitive towards other cultures and beliefs it would be us. Apparently not all Malaysians feel this way. And sadly, there will always be politicians who take advantage of the already bad situation to gain political mileage.

Recently, Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali threatened Christians nationwide that he would wage a holy war should the Christians proceed with their alleged agenda which is to usurp Islam. Out of a sudden he was willing to take the fall for his statement for the sake of defending the dignity of Islam. Before his belligerent declaration, he also called lawyer Syahredzan Johan a traitor for saying that the Federal Constitution has never stated Islam is the country’s official religion. Ibrahim said that Syahredzan was trying to boost his popularity in the Bar Council which members are mostly non-Muslims.

Such reckless incitement is totally uncalled for and for someone who has spent time as a detainee under Internal Security Act (ISA) Ibrahim should know better. Having said that, should the Christian conspiracy be a bona fide claim could be timely that ISA would be enforced on the real perpetrators.

Fallouts With Christians

In the last couple of years, there have been quite a few misunderstandings between Christians and Muslims in the country but luckily things were kept under control. With this latest Christian conspiracy allegation we can expect that related issues in the past would be brought up yet again. Previously, there was the ‘Allah’ usage which have been resolved with the decision by the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) to accept the Malay-language bibles which had been ‘defaced’ by the Home Ministry. Again, at that time, amid this whole ‘Allah’ usage issue there were church burnings committed by kids that should have known better.

However, Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), the umbrella body of Christians in Malaysia, has not made any decision on the so-called 10-point concession by the government. A key point of the 10-point plan is that there are no restrictions to the import of Malay language bibles into Sabah and Sarawak but restrictions remain for import into West Malaysia. Now CFM wonders why the Al-Kitab continues to be classified as a threat to national security.

Is It Time to Enforce ISA?

When things started to boil to the extent of jeopardizing national security should ISA come into the picture? Perhaps such incidents that potentially could cause racial and religious disharmony should not be left unnoticed anymore. Something, some restriction, some force must be used to end this phenomena. It is a phenomenon because it has gain a lot of response from the public.

However, ISA falls under the jurisdiction of the Home Ministry. Could this be the time for Home Minister Hishammuddin to utilize it wisely after his issuing only a caution letter? Before we make our decisions, let’s not forget the power of ISA and its role in the Malaysian political game. The ISA has been consistently used by the government against those who they claim to be posing a ‘threat’ to national security. Known as the “white terror”, the ISA has been the most feared and despised Act to the Opposition, activists, human rights groups and the general public alike. Yet, it is a convenient tool for the government to keep things under control (or so they say). Many of us are already familiar with the fact that ISA is used by the ruling government as an instrument to clampdown on their political enemies even when they claim it is for the sake of national security. Others say the only threat the ISA helps invalidate is the threat to democracy and human rights.

The most recent implementation ISA was against Hindu activists from Hindraf who had voiced out against the government policies that resulted in Malaysian Indians being marginalized and sidelined from the country’s development. So will the imposing of ISA silence the alleged Christian conspirators? First we have to find out if there actually was a Christian conspiracy. Only then will we know who’s to pay for their mindless actions.