Umno’s survival strategy?

Escalating tension by fanning religious sentiments would only create chaos and contribute to a further breakdown of the social fabric of the society.

COMMENT

By Charles Santiago

Ask any Hindu about the song “Raghubathi Raghava Raja Ram” and almost all of them would know the lines by heart. But what is interesting is that one line goes like this – “Ishwar Allah Tero Naam” – meaning that Your name is Ishwar and also Allah, referring to God.

This song is sung in many schools and homes in India by the people of different faiths.

We all know Allah is an Arabic word to describe God and has been used by the Arab Muslims and Christians with no problems. Here the term Allah has been borrowed from Arabic and used by both Muslims and Christians.

But a court ruling and the Selangor Sultan’s decree together with The Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 prohibits non-Muslims from using 35 Arabic words in the Selangor state, including the word for God, “Allah”.

And this despite the fact that every possible shred of evidence to support the fact that Malay Bibles used by Christians here had, for centuries, referred to God as Allah has been produced.

So where is this issue stemming from? And how political is this controversy?

I find it interesting that the Allah row was started in Selangor, a state run by the Pakatan Rakyat. The coalition is made up of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR, the left of centre DAP and Islamic party PAS.

From the time it was suddenly sensationalised that the Catholic newspaper, The Herald, uses Allah to describe God and the controversial court ruling, which barred it from doing so, we have seen Umno leaders trying desperately to drive a wedge between the ideologically different Pakatan Rakyat partners.

PAS has been pitted against the DAP as a way of putting the Islamists in a fix. And the Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, as well as Anwar have been slammed for not taking a clearer stand on the Allah issue.

In the months running up to the last election, we saw Umno and the ruling Barisan Nasional repeatedly using the race card to hang on to power. They were, however, shamefaced when the results were out.

And so now Umno is using its last so-called religious trump card to create a climate of fear as a way of trying to bring the Malays back into their fold.

It’s pathetic, below the belt, disgusting and down- right frightening. It’s scary because Umno’s decades old divide and rule tactic has split the Malaysian society down the middle.

Chaos and breakdown

We remain hugely polarised. And escalating tension by fanning religious sentiments would only create chaos and contribute to a further breakdown of the social fabric of the society.

This means intimidating Father Lawrence Andrew, confiscating Bibles in the Malay and Iban languages, spewing verbal venom against the Christian community, raising threats against the minority amongst other things should be stopped immediately.

We are in a conundrum. And we don’t need to make it worse through insensitivity and arrogance.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has put in much time and effort to globally highlight Malaysia’s brand of Islam as being inclusive, tolerant and moderate. But in a chameleon-like skill, Najib has distanced himself from the Allah row and occasionally thrown his support behind the court ruling.

The country’s Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

In an attempt to diffuse tension following the confiscation of thousands of Bibles in 2011, Najib said Christians could use the Bibles in Malay and the Indonesian languages as long as the cover clearly states it’s only for Christian use.

But in direct contrast, the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 indulged in a high-handed exercise. Having Bibles in Malay and the Iban language in the Bible Society of Malaysia do not amount to propagation.

Recently, Father Lawrence produced a 1905 Catholic prayer book in the Malay language as a clear proof that Christians not only prayed in Malay more than 100 years ago, but also communicated with each other and the church in the language.

Translations of the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, Book of Psalms, the New Testament and the entire Bible into Malay began as early as the 17th century.

And law lecturer Azmi Sharom has pointed out that the Surah 22:40 (Al-Hajj) states that the name Allah is used in all sorts of houses of worship: mosques, churches, monasteries and synagogues.

Christians comprise about 10 percent of Malaysia’s population. Nearly two-thirds of them are largely Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak, where they use Malay and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as ” Allah” in their prayers and scripture.

Malaysian Sikhs and Bahai also use the word Allah. Would they and others who do the same became pawns in Umno’s political game for survival?

Charles Santiago is DAP’s MP for Klang.