Rape & Segregation: Is 'hudud' already in force? Since when was Malaysia an Islamic state?

Much to the dismay of Malaysians of all walks of life, Pakatan Rakyat’s PAS has inflamed and earned the ire of people by trying to impose their version of Islamic principles and in the process have been found guilty of interfering in the personal choices and preferences of Malaysians.

MCA officials, in particular, have come out in strong condemnation of DAP in stating that they have done nothing to rein-in and control the Islamic hardliners within PR from imposing their will on the people.

Are Malaysians already witness to subtle and sporadic forms of the implementation of “hudud” by Parti PAS or is MCA just being guilty of suffering from a case of Islamophobia?

Strong criticism of women

PAS spiritual advisor, Dato Seri Nik Aziz, has come out in strong criticism of women by stating that “kalau perempuan tak tutup aurat lebih baik mereka di rogol.” (If a woman does not cover her modesty, it is better for her to be raped)

In all likelihood, the PAS spiritual head is suggesting that this is a way in which a “shameless woman should be taught a lesson.” Just go ahead and outrage her modesty and this will cause her to behave herself in future.

While whether this lesson from Tok Guru is advocated as a lesson from Islam should be best left for their Majlis Ulama (Council of Clerics) and theologians to decide.

Malaysia not an Islamic state

But what we have to bear in mind is that Malaysia is not an Islamic state neither is it a theocracy but governed under law as a constitutional monarchy. In other words, the nation abides and subscribes fully to the tenets and obligations of parliamentary democracy.

This is what Malaysia is – a democracy – and up to now there has been no change whatsoever to the status quo.

The constitution is clear and not ambiguous, neither are there any grey areas that makes this an issue to be debated, as it has been agreed upon by the founding fathers of the nation and has never been changed or amended. So every Malaysian of whatever stripe should be made aware and be clear about this.

Doubts over safety of women and children

Dato Seri Nik Aziz, also chief minister of the east coast state of Kelantan, should be well advised to look into the implementation of laws in his own backyard as the safety and security of women and children in his domain is questionable and in doubt.

The state of Kelantan, by the accounts of a foreign report, is alleged to have the highest rate of divorce in the world despite the “spiritual conditioning” supposedly to be on going in the state.

In a related development on the topic of sexuality, rape cases are the highest in Kelantan among the states of Malaysia. Are we a witness to a certain kind and form of hypocrisy?

Last year alone, in Kelantan, rape cases increased from 13 to eighteen per cent with incidences of rape among children as young as 12.

Kelantan Chief Police Officer, Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman voiced his concern not just of the fact that young girls were being raped but also the number of cases of rape and incest in the state that was being covered up in a bid to hide the shame of sin in the state.

While unreported cases of rape and incest are anybody’s guess, the increasing trend of rape cases over the years is sufficient to be a cause of great concern and worry.

In 2007, there were 228 rape cases, in 2008, 563 cases. There were no statistics for 2009 while in the year 2010 there were 656 cases of rape.

What has the erstwhile spiritual advisor of PAS got to say about the conditions of life for women and children in his own state before he preaches to the rest of Malaysia?

Gender segregation

Also viewed as violations of the civil liberties of Malaysians in accordance with the principles of being a democratic nation is the measure adopted by the Kuala Selangor District council to impose gender segregation of non-married men and women at the solitary cinema operating in town.

Since when did a local authority have the right by law to impose its own terms and conditions to the cinema operator in order to renew its operating permit or to have it revoked if there is no compliance to the ruling of the local authority?

Is it that in Malaysia local authorities and state governments or even the federal authorities, go about imposing their own laws according to their whims and fancies that eventually all over the country there is no uniformity in the implementation of the law that this in itself results in bedlam, mayhem and anarchy?

Are Malaysians now beginning to feel the heat and the reality of events that are unfolding in the country? Looks like anybody can do whatever they want as they please.

Witness how persons not vested with the right to govern or not having been endorsed with the powers, lay claim to possessing the power to impose their will on the lives of innocent people who are ignorant of their rights under the law.

Is Malaysia a rogue nation?

The reason in Malaysia why Ali, Ah Kow and Ramasamy decide as they please what they want to do and go about doing it without due consideration of the law is because the nation has been descending into chaos and confusion.

The reason why Malaysia is appropriately viewed as a rogue nation by the international community is due to the fact that corruption of the top brass of the governing authorities has seeped and infiltrated down the rank and file of the nation to cause corruption to be widespread and rampant.

Corruption in Malaysia has no doubt become a runaway evil and every sphere of Malaysian society has become corrupted and in the process the nation is heading towards self-destruction.

It is really a classic case of time bombs ticking in steady fashion just waiting to blow the nation up into bits, and the number of people without the rightful ability and knowledge to govern in this country who are beginning to throw their weight around, is enough proof that lawlessness has set in and looks set to stay.

Malaysia Chronicle