By Shannon Teoh The Malaysian Insider May 17, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — As religious tensions run high on the local front, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has called on moderates of all religions to come together.
Speaking at the Islamic Centre of the prestigious Oxford University in Britain, the prime minister also said that it was not enough to go after individuals or organisations to address global violence as a lasting solution could only be achieved by seeking out root causes.
“Our choice is clear. Come together in action for a future of justice, freedom, hope, compassion and goodwill for our children or it will be replaced by a future of injustice, tyranny, hopelessness, cruelty and hate.
“Because the real divide is not between East and West or between the developed and developing worlds or even between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is between moderates and extremists of all religions,” Najib (picture) said in a speech on the “Coalition of Moderates and Inter-Civilisational Understanding” early this morning.
The Umno president’s speech comes just a week after Utusan Malaysia, a Malay daily owned by his party, alleged that church leaders were in a plot with the DAP to turn Malaysia into a Christian state and install a Christian prime minister.
Christian leaders and DAP members have denied the reports which have sparked protests but the Home Ministry has only slapped Utusan Malaysia with a warning letter for publishing the unsubstantiated report.
Najib was forced to meet with church leaders to clear the air but Umno vice president and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein later said that there was “some basis” to the reports.
Malays rights group Perkasa also threatened Christians nationwide that it would wage a crusade or holy war should the church proceed with the alleged agenda to usurp Islam.
The Barisan Nasional chief said in his speech today that all religions must make their voices heard against religious extremism.
“It would be too easy to say that the solution to Islamic extremism is simply for more Muslims to speak up and to speak out. Yes, it is our responsibility, but it is not ours alone.
“Just as Muslims need to make their voices heard, so do the Christians, the Jews, the Buddhists, the Hindus and the atheists who are sickened by intolerance, violence and terror and need to make their voices heard,” he said.
Quoting from the Quran, Bible and personalities known for non-violent approaches such as Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, he said that “modernisation and moderation must go hand in hand.”
“Quite simply, we cannot allow this moment to be overtaken by extremists, with those who shout loudest gaining the most,” he told an audience who included renowned academicians, MPs, corporate figures and students.
He said the concerted voices of moderates in all countries and from all walks of life would be able to counter terrorism and deliver “the prize of peace.”
“We must address the underlying causes of global violence. Merely going after specific individuals, dismantling their organisations, disrupting their finances and discrediting their ideologies is far from enough,” Najib said.
Early this month, the United States announced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan.
However, several leading figures warned that bin Laden’s death would lead to a backlash from Muslim extremists.
Bin Laden had masterminded the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people, after which the US proclaimed a global “war on terror.”
“We must be able to differentiate between the symptoms and the root causes. Only then, can we achieve a lasting solution,” Najib added.