Umno and Harussani provoking Malays to create trouble, warns PAS

PAS leaders condemned Perak chief cleric Harussani Zakaria for trying to scare Christians into docility over the Malay Bibles row, accusing him of trying to provoke the Malays into retaliation when there was no justification.

They also denounced for him being a stooge of the Umno-led ruling government.

Harussani had warned that the release of the Bibles could lead to Malay anger. He said that he was “afraid” the community would oppose of the ministry’s decision and create further tension.

“I definitely don’t think it will happen. The Malays are very rational about this and not easily influenced by such an issue. It is bad of him to claim such a thing. It’s as if he’s provoking the Malays to create trouble,”,” said Kuala Krai MP Hatta Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.

Tensions deliberately stoked to spur Malays against other races

According to Hatta, the Malay-language Bibles have been in the market before and there were no consequences. He blamed the current racial and religious tensions on Prime Minister Najib Razak's government.

Indeed, Malaysia watchers have accused Najib of deliberately stoking racial and religious tensions in order to retain political power. Despite professing a 1Malaysia slogan that he assured was aimed at uniting the races and not at proclaiming supremacy of one race - the Malays - his actions have been the opposite.

While overseas, he has tried to portray a liveral and moderate image, even offering to help the United States battle Islamophobia, but back home he has vowed to ensure that his Malay nationalist party retained power even if it mean "crushed bodies", "lost lives" and "ethnic cleansing".

The Malays form some 55 per cent of the country's 28 million population, the Chinese 26 per cent, Indians about 8 per cent, indigenous people and other races the balance.

Last year, together with his cousin and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Najib triggered a string of church vandalizations and torchings after he gave the green light for mass demonstrations against a High Court ruling that favoured the Christians.

The court had overturned the Home Ministry's order to ban non-Muslims from using the Allah to describe God. Following huge uproar, Najib had to back pedal and although Hisham appealed the uplifting of the ban, so far the case has not been heard yet.

“In the Quran, it has described the use of Allah in pre-Islam times. Even now in the Middle East, there is no issue of using the word Allah by non-Muslims,” said Hatta.

Christians feel very badly let down

PAS is the second largest Malay-dominated political party after Umno. The Islamist party has taken the opposite view to Umno, pointing to the scores of ancient scripture and advice from top Islamic scholars from all over the world.

"The Allah ban has got nothing to do with Islam. It is an Umno invention for political motives," added Hatta.

Meanwhile, Christian leaders bemoaned the desecration of some 5,100 Malay Bibles. These had been detained by the Home Ministry at the ports and in a bid to resolve the escalating anger of the Christians over the detention, Najib had ordered their release.

However to appease his Umno members, he also ordered that the books be stamped with the words "For Christians Only" and with a serial number. The move made the Christians even more upset than before.

“I feel very badly let down by the government that proclaims support for upholding the principles of our constitution and the fundamental rights under the UN declaration,” chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies Ramon Navaratnam told Malaysia Chronicle.

Christians acting as if this is a Christian country

Even within Najib's ruling coalition, the MCA has come out to blast the Home Ministry for its crass actions.

"The Al Kitab (Malay Bible) is a sacred scripture and should be accorded with respect and dignity no different than the scriptures of other religions," MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok said in a press statement.

But gauging from Harussani's bile, it is clear Najib has no intention to back off completely.

Speculation is already rife that Najib only ordered the release of the Bibles to appease Christians who form 43 per cent of the population in Sarawak and that he would U-turn once the polls were out of the way.

"I am scared. Everything can happen here. People are very unhappy and everything can happen,” Malaysia Insiderreported Harussani as saying.

"And like I said before, Islam is the official religion, enshrined in the Federal Constitution. So in Islamic practice, the word ‘Allah’ is for the Muslims. Already they question the Malay ‘special rights’ in the Constitution. We have never said anything about the other religions. We do not stop them from doing anything. They act as if this country is a Christian country." - Malaysia Chronicle