Open letter to Hassan Karim: Will your good friend PMX ever listen to your plea for Malaysian Hindus?

 

DEAR Hassan Abdul Karim,

You urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PMX) to show wisdom, compassion and justice to resolve the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple issue and that is very praiseworthy.

Yours is the voice of moderation and reason in the midst of the storm over this controversial and combustible matter.

Unfortunately, Sir, yours is the voice in the wilderness which is unlikely to reach the ears of your long-time friend. Although both of you hail from the same party, it doesn’t mean that your opinion will carry weight.

You portrayed PMX as a Muslim democrat and on that account alone you verily believe his democratic spirit will come into play to calm the storm.

But, Sir, PMX is first and foremost a politician to the bone. Everything he does is always a calculated political move.

Whenever the Madani leader makes his move, he eyes both sides: one on the Malay vote bank and the other on the sizeable non-Malay electorate.

In this instance, your close companion has set his sight mainly on the majority ethnic group simply because he has no choice but to uphold and defend the official religion.

PKR lawmaker and two-term Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim

Fall on deaf ears

If PMX were to give way on the temple issue, up will jump fierce warriors like anak jantan Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh and his ilk who will vociferously denounce him for betraying his people.

Like it or not, religion is inextricably linked to politics: It is inevitable for PMX to pander to the right to champion the interests of the majority or else he falls at the ballot boxes.

So, Sir, how can your good buddy be moved with compassion in this temple row?

If at all he wants to show empathy – and take up your proposal (that is, keep the temple in the existing site and build the new mosque nearby) – he can appeal to the good sense and understanding of the Muslim faithful.

But it won’t happen. It is very unlikely that they will lend their hearts and ears to his plea considering that this plot of land is now seen as theirs on which their mosque must be built.

In fact, PMX himself has made up his mind that the temple must go because it was revealed that, after 130 years, it was built illegally. Very artfully he maintained that the temple will be re-located and not torn down.

To put himself in a favourable light, he emphasised he just cannot “imagine demolishing any temple”. But, you know, when you relocate the temple you are actually demolishing a place of worship which has been sacred to the Hindus for decades.

Even you yourself maintained a correct stance when you said the existing temple should “remain intact and undisturbed” to prevent causing “harm to any ethnic or religious group”.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Fat hopes

Sir, if only your PKR president were to listen to you, the matter can be settled amicably. But when people like Akmal are ever ready to exploit sensitive issues for political gain, PMX’s hands are tied. He cannot move to accommodate the wishes of the other ethnic groups.

Soon you will be gone from the political arena and there may not be another courageous voice to champion the cause of the minority.

But you still can speak your mind from the sideline although your Renaissance man might shut you out for good. These are fraught times and there is no knowing when the river of emotion and passion might burst its banks and flood the country to dangerous depths.

You can still give your two cents worth because people may want to hear your independent views on developments in the country.

You must keep reminding the people of that precious article in the Federal Constitution which states that Islam is the pre-eminent religion of the federation but that other religions may be practised in peace and harmony.

More often than not, only the first line of the sentence in the article will be honoured while the second one will be treated like a useless appendage that can be severed and thrown into the garbage dump.

Nevertheless, a law is a law. It is people like you who must make the law inviolable.

You know how crucial it is to maintain religious harmony in the face of the rising tide of fanaticism and bigotry.

It is unlikely that the “storm will spend will spend its furry”. It might hit the country again: today a Hindu temple. Tomorrow a Chinese temple. And next a Christian church.

Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.