Najib seen stirring anti-Christian sentiment to build Malay support

Speculation is swirling that Prime Minister Najib Razak might be trying to use the Malay-language Bibles to stir up anti-Christian sentiment amongst the Malays to further divide the nation and cling to power ahead of snap general elections that are widely expected to be called soon.

According to seasoned political watchers, the delay and contrasting statements coming from the Home Ministry - run by Najib's own cousin Hishammuddin Hussein - was a dead give-away.

Then, there are the overly blatant attempts by the BN-controlled press and online media to shield Najib from the brewing storm and red-hot Christian anger over the matter.

The Christian community forms about 10 per cent of Malaysia's 28 million population, while the Malays who are compelled from birth to become Muslim form about 50 per cent.

But pundits say it is inconceivable that Hisham - as Home Minister - does not have the full facts. It is also inconceivable that Najib would not get the true picture from his own cousin.

"It is a double-edged sword. By painting Najib as innocent, whether they realize it or not, it also makes him look wishy-washy and incompetent. He doesn't know what is happening in his own government. Should we trust in a PM who is so easily hoodwinked," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"But there are also some who say Najib is motivated by what he perceives to be growing Malay support for himself and Umno and he wants to build this momentum without showing his hand too much or become a villian with the non-Malays like Dr Mahathir. The problem is, you can't have your cake and eat it. People will suss it out sooner or later."

Can you believe this guy?

Indeed, unfortunate though it may be, Najib has become associated with insincerity and double speak.

It began when at the 2010 UN general assembly, he called for moderation and even offered to lead the charge against extremism. Yet at home, at his own Umno general assembly, he showed his true colors by vowing to retain federal power even if it took "lost lives", "crushed bodies" and "ethnic cleansing".

It is also worth rembering that at the same UN assembly, he called on non-Muslims to reject Islamophobia and not to sterotype Muslims as terrorists. Again, he failed to live up to his grand words. At recent by-elections at home, he allowed his Cabinet ministers and coalition partners to warn the Chinese and Indians that should an Islamic party like political rival PAS come to power, they would be 'circumcised' and have their hands "chopped off" if they sinned.

Few are surprised then that Najib could assure the Christian Federation of Malaysia that his government would release all impounded Bibles written in the Malay language, and then claim he 'wasn't aware' when his own cousin kept the books under lock and key at the ports.

Not known for his tact, Hisham had on Sunday tried to blame on "wild allegations and speculations" the high-handed manner in which his ministry had acted in impounding some 30,000 Malay-language Bible.

Coincidentally, even as Hisham accused others of lying, the Christian Fedaration of Malaysia denounced his ministry for the same sin.

"The appeal has yet to be heard by the court to resolve the bigger issue of content one way or the other," Hisham said in a statement to the media.

"In respect of the bibles from Port Klang and Kuching Port, the ministry have since sought and obtained the advice of the Attorney-General and the two matters are being resolved amicably with the parties concerned, based on this advice, in the next few days. I urge all parties not to listen to wild allegations and speculations. As always, the ministry will act based on the law."

The cousins and their role in the Church torchings

Hisham was referring to the December 2009 High Court court ruling. Then, the judge had overturned a Home Ministry ruling barring non-Muslims from using the word Allah to describe God.

But Hisham, in his capacity as Home Minister, had appealed the decision, although Muslims clerics from around the world including PAS had said there was nothing wrong for non-Muslims to use Allah.

Both Najib and Hisham chose to play up the matter by refusing to uphold the court decision. The two cousins even encouraged their supporters to demonstrate against it. They gave the green light for protests to be held at mosques despite stern warnings from civil society leaders that such blatant sanctioning would open the door to extremism.

True enough, Umno supporters turned rowdy and it led to a string of churches and other places of worship being vandalized and torched across the nation. Needless to say, Najib's bungled attempt to rally Malay and Muslim support for himself and his party was condemned worldwide and within the country.

The influential international council of Churches even sent an official letter of protest. For weeks after, Malaysia hit the headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons. It became known for intolerant religious attitudes and physical violence towards Christian places of worship.

Veering from the middle path

Since then, Najib has steadily veered from the middle path. Even to many international observers, including former US ambassador John Malott, Najib is deliberately stoking racial and religious tensions to cling to power.

When Malott wrote about it in his WSJ article entitled The Price of Malaysia's recaism, a minister in Najib's department immediately fired back by saying the American would be banned from entering Malaysia.

The latest religious row flared up earlier this week after the Home Ministry denied that it had confiscated 5,000 such Bibles shipped in three years ago from Indonesia. It said that the books were turned away because they failed to meet with regulations.

The facetiousness of the reply was slammed by fed-up Christians, who did not mince their words.

"The Christian Federation of Malaysia is greatly disillusioned, fed-up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles written in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia," federation head Bishop Ng Moon Hing said in a statement.

“It is an affront to them that they are being deprived of their sacred scriptures. Many are wondering why their scriptures are considered a threat to national security. All these actions in relation to the detention of the Bibles continue to hurt the Malaysian Christian community." - Malaysia Chronicle