When Putrajaya’s words mean naught to Malaysians

Putrajaya has once again come up with a statement that serves to insult the people's intelligence after recent events.- The Malaysian Insider pic, June 23, 2014.Heard that phrase "adding insult to injury"? Need an example of what it means to add insult to injury?

Just pull up that statement by Putrajaya on the decision by the Federal Court not to grant leave to the Catholic Church to appeal against the ruling by the Court of Appeal upholding an order prohibiting a publication of the church from using the word Allah.

Concerned that the ruling was going to turn droves of Christians and non-Muslims against the Barisan Nasional government, the Najib administration said the apex court's ruling only applied to the Catholic weekly, Herald.

Malaysian Christians can still use the word Allah in church and Putrajaya remains committed to its 10-point resolution, it added.

"Malaysia is a multi-faith country and it is important that differences are managed peacefully in accordance with the rule of law and through dialogue, mutual respect and compromise, " read the statement.

On its own, the statement is wonderful. So reassuring, such a balm to Christians who have been on the hand of persecution by Umno and their supporters.

The 10-point resolution is dead and buried by Jais, Mais, Perkasa, Isma and the protector of all these groups, Umno.

But you can never read anything in a vacuum. Never.

There must be context, a background against which this whole Allah issue has been played out.

Once read in context, the statement from Putrajaya comes across as self-serving, nauseating and dishonest.

Let us examine the main thrust of the statement – that the government remains committed to the 10-point resolution.

The main platform of the 10-point resolution cobbled together by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak just before the Sarawak elections in 2011 was that it allowed Christians in East Malaysia to use the word Allah. It also allowed the import of the AlKitab (the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia) into the country.

In essence, if the government and its various agencies had any respect for this 10-pointer, we would not have witnessed the farce in Selangor where several hundred AlKitab and Bup Kudus (Iban-language bibles) were seized from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) in January.

And the sham situation where Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) have refused to return the holy books despite Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail saying that the BSM was not guilty of any offence.

And yet, Putrajaya today had the temerity to assure Malaysians that the 10-point resolution was still in place, and capable of resolving outstanding issues involving Christians.

The 10-point resolution is dead and buried by Jais, Mais, Perkasa, Isma and the protector of all these groups, Umno.

It seems that the person in charge of crafting  the statement from Putrajaya opened his dictionary and picked out some choice words such as "dialogue, mutual respect and compromise and rule of law" – words that are far removed from the current state of race and religious relations in Malaysia.

In Putrajaya parlance:

• "dialogue" means Umno, Perkasa and others speak and everyone else backs down;
• "mutual respect" means everyone respect what Umno and its acolytes decide;
• "compromise" means everyone else give up their rights;
• the "rule of law" is a phrase used in press statements.

Mix it up all together and you can weave some magic balm to soothe and heal hurt feelings and ruffled feathers. And get that delusional 1Malaysia mantra and the hashtag #EndlessPossibilities.

That is only on paper, for the rest of the world.

In Malaysia, that press statement is not worth the paper it is printed on. It is a work of fiction, just as the 10-point solution remains a figment of imagination.

What is real is that the hurt gets worse, not any better.

- TMI