LAUGHING STOCK! Najib in hot seat at UN Security Council over rise of hardline Islam in OWN country

A LAST-DITCH fight against the intensification of Islamist extremism in Malaysia and its sanctification by the government has seized the centre of public debate there this week.

The UN resident in Kuala Lumpur, Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, has warned that as the country succeeds Australia as a temporary member of the UN Security Council from January 1, it must expect greater scrutiny of its human rights record and its commitment to moderation.

“These privileges come with responsibility and greater accountability,” she said.

Malaysia has signed only three of nine core UN human rights conventions, eschewing those covering civil and political rights, refugees, the elimination of racial discrimination, torture, and the rights of migrant workers. “These are not hard to do. They are low-hanging fruit,” Ms Gyles-McDonnough said.

She said the UN was watching closely how the administration led by Prime Minister Najib Razak intends to strengthen the Sedition Act that he vowed, before the last election two years ago, to repeal.

He wants to add “a special clause to protect the sanctity of Islam”. At present, 44 people — including cartoonist “Zunar” — are being investigated under the Act.

Former Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan agreed with Gyles-McDonnough: “I am proud that Malaysia is sitting on the Security Council.

“But it’s not enough just to sit up there and tell others to behave. You have to behave at home. Also, do not get sensitive when others criticise you.”

Noor Farida Ariffin, a former ambassador, is one of 25 leading Muslim Malaysians who published an open letter that sparked this week-long debate by challenging “the extreme politicisation of race and religion in this country”, and warning of the rise — backed by elements in the government — of “intolerance and bigotry”. She expressed later “a deep fear that our country will become another Pakistan or Afghanistan”.

The extremists, she said, are “giving Islam a bad name. Why should we allow these rat pack gangs to force us out of our own homes and country?”.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guang Eng said the letter was “a wake-up call” for Mr Najib, showing he had failed to practise what he preaches internationally because he allowed extremism to rise at home.

Religious Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom, a former major general in the Malaysian army’s religious corps, has described liberalism and pluralism as insults to Islam.

Muslim academic Ahmad Farouk Musa said the flawed Hilali-Khan translation of the Koran, widely available in Malaysia, presented Islam as hostile to other faiths.

“The federal constitution ensures equal rights to worship for all communities. But when they read the Hilali-Khan interpretation of the Koran, it tells them that they can treat non-Muslims as second-class citizens.”

This week’s debate will transfer to the High Court, which has agreed to review a fatwa by a religious committee in Selangor, banning women’s rights group, Sisters in Islam.

The fatwa stated that SIS deviated from the teachings of Islam because it favoured liberalism and pluralism. The federal Attorney-General opposed the judicial review of the fatwa, but lost this round.

The fatwa had further instructed that any social media containing liberal content should be blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim entered the debate on Thursday, condemning the use of Islam to defend “racism and gross injustice”. He said the open letter by the 25 leading Malaysians was timely. - The Australian