Landmines in Racial and Religious Hatred Act

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

― James Madison, one of America's founding fathers

Considering what I have written about what I know to be the existential threat to this country, this piece may come off as self-serving but it has to be said.

The Racial and Religious Hatred Act is really a mendacious piece of legislation. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa is an affable politician and I think - hope - he means well by advocating for this Act, but this legislation is in reality a boon for the Islamic deep state and all those who subscribe to a particular form of Islam.

Generally speaking, do non-Muslims go about insulting Islam? For all this talk about Christian proselytisation has there been one shred of evidence that this goes on? To wit, what about the so-called deviant teachings of Islam – the Shia norms – for example; are they protected under this Act?

And what of legitimate criticisms of the Islamic faith by various NGOs like Sister in Islam, who are always on the receiving end of police reports for tarnishing or insulting Islam; what about these types of “insults”? Does quoting for religious texts which put religion in a bad light an insult to the religion?

There’s that, but more importantly, who defines Islam in this country? The state, and of course, the dialectic between Malay power structures which use religion to ensure compliance amongst the Muslim polity. Hence who determines what is insulting to Islam is the state, in this instance the Malay/Muslim powerbrokers in Pakatan Harapan.

But forget about Islam, if you can. We have seen how the Harapan state deals with a provocateur like Indian Muslim preacher Zakir Naik. So, would this Act be used against him? Or would it more likely be used against someone like me, who is routinely labelled as anti-Islam and anti-Malay?

I have to call out this horse manure on this particular soundbite. It sounds good when Mujahid claims that this Act would be used against not only those who insult Islam but also against those who insult the other religions. But here’s the thing. In order to do that, all religions must be treated the same. Is Mujahid actually claiming that all religions are treated the same in Malaysia or is this just another convenient soundbite to lull people into a false sense of security?

Sure, we could talk about free speech and freedom of expression, but since these concepts only seem to apply to people of certain racial and religious persuasions, what we should do is recognise that the conflict, especially when it comes to religion, has always benefited political parties.

And you know who has benefited the most from religion in Malaysia? Amanah, of course.

The so-called moderate breakaway from PAS may not have the numbers but it sure does have the patronage. If there was no dialectic in PAS, then there would be no opportunity for Amanah to blossom.  For instance, PAS is always calling other Muslims deviant or liberal for not following their brand of Islam. They are always saying that Islam is being tarnished by other Muslims, how does this Act resolve these kinds of conflicts, now that the so-called moderate faction has assumed power?

Or how about this - is lying about another race or religion runs foul of this Act? Because not only have there been Umno operatives who have propagated such lies, there are also Harapan political operatives who play the same game. So would this type of politicking fall under this Act?

Take, for example, that actress Ellie Suriati Omar. When she says something like “when Umno is no longer in power, Malays and Islam will be challenged... that Malays will be bastardised (terbangsat) in their own land,” is this a lie? If it is, then surely she is insulting the non-Malay communities in this country. Surely, she is stirring racial and religious hatred against the non-Malay community. If this is not an insult to the non-Malays, I do not know what is. Do you see how dumb this Act really is, or do I need to go further?

Read this passage from my piece questioning the Islamic agenda of Harapan regarding the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) – “Have they (Jakim) ever attacked religious extremism which is a more of a threat to this country? Have they sanctioned hate speech? Have they warned Muslims that there are external forces out there which are attempting to subvert the democratic institutions of this country or enemies who would destroy democracy from within? Instead, what they have done is target Shia adherents, labelled dissenting Muslims as ‘liberal’, selectively enforced their edicts, estranged the Malay community from the non-Malay community, but most importantly, decried excessive laughter.”

Now to a rational person, what I described about Jakim in that paragraph, it would seem that it is an organisation which should be sanctioned under this proposed Act. Unless of course, insulting Muslims whose ideas you do not agree does not apply when it is Muslims doing the insulting? Unless, of course, claiming the way how other people practice Islam as deviant is not insulting to Islam or it is not if Sunni Muslims are doing the insulting? Unless, of course, selectively enforcing religious edicts on the working class but not the moneyed class is not an insult to Islam?

And do not get me started on the racial aspect of this Act. Honestly, we would have police reports up the wazoo for the kind of comments that happen on social media. Come to think of it, some people may actually think that this piece is an insult to ‘bangsa’ dan ‘agama’.

I said is many times (and, of course, you may disagree), the best way to combat Islamic extremism in this country and to loosen the chokehold of religious politics is to through economic reforms and a plurality of voices when it comes to Islam.

To do this would require that we hold certain values sacred, of which freedom of speech and expression are the most important. These values are not what religious scholars care about, so you go talk to your Islamic scholars to get their input on this Act because what this Act really is, is a petty law proposed by small-minded men.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. - Mkini