Belling the Madani cat

 

“If Malaysia is serious about upholding harmony, then enforcement must be consistent, not contingent on political alignment or ideological convenience. The deafening silence is not neutral. It is read as protection.”

– Former Klang MP Charles Santiago

Political analysts Wong Chin Huat and James Chin are two capable hands when it comes to Malaysia watching.

However, the former’s latest piece is sticking in my craw for some reason.

Perhaps it is the description of Madani as a centrist coalition when it is not.

Or maybe it is because of the description of the opposition, meaning Perikatan Nasional or whatever it consists of, as playing up racial and religious issues because it is bankrupt of issues, which it is, as the destabilising force of political stability of Madani.

Here is the thing: Madani is not a centrist; it is a right-wing coalition made up of a few centrists leaning political operatives who offer no real opposition to hegemonic policies predicated on race and religion.

The rule of law does not define political stability in most Malaysian governments. Rule by law does. And for the most part, especially during BN’s heyday, most Malaysians voted for this. So this is not really something which could be solely attributed to Madani.

Some people are not going to like this, but if Madani is cracking down on anyone who stirred up racial and religious sentiment, even though it went against basic democratic norms and constitutional protections, I would not have any problem with this.

But even this would not ensure political stability as, generally, non-Muslims do not want to engage in this type of behaviour, because ultimately, as minorities, pragmatism wins the day.

The result would be more Muslims sanctioned by the state because they are indoctrinated into thinking that religious supremacy trumps everything, and the resulting backlash by the majority community, egged on by the opposition.

When you look at all these provocations when it comes to religious issues, it normally emanates from the state. In Madani's cases, it is made worse by the reality that the prime minister always attempts to burnish his religious credentials.

Nobody forced the prime minister to claim that the demolishment of a 100 year old temple was a victory or claim that that states need to clean up “illegal” temples or preside over the conversion of a convert or define the religious narratives of this country as a fight between those who are Islamophobic and those who feel “they are the only Islamic group, and everyone else is deviant, evil, and oppressive.”

Madani equals PAS?

When it comes to PAS sowing religious and racial conflict, this is to be expected. After all, they make no secret of this.

PAS’ atavistic interpretation of Islam, of course, does not extend to its politburo, which engages in the kind of excesses that most Malay uber alles outfits engage in.

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However, while the opposition may benefit from the racial and religious turmoil that exists in Madani, and yes, may very well contribute to it, the real reason Madani is in a fix is because of its racial and religious agenda, which shares too many similarities with PAS.

Two years ago, when there was a possibility that Madani was going to place Islamic Development Department (Jakim) officers in government agencies, this is what PAS said about the interfaith group, which raised concerns about this issue and of course – the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

“In both oppositions, the group clearly shows its Islamophobia, where every step taken to strengthen Islam is construed as a threat to the rights and liberties of the non-Muslims in the country.

“PAS sees the MCCBCHST’s (the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism) stance as having serious repercussions and as a challenge to Muslims’ right to practise their religion.”

Neither PAS nor Madani think that Malaysia is a secular country.

"Malaysia is not a secular country. If it was, why should DAP include ‘to fight for a secular country’ in its own manifesto?

"Islam is the official religion of the federation. Then there is the idea of Malaysian Malaysia. No Malay can accept the concept of equality," said PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

Moderate way

To be fair to the prime minister, he did define a religious state in a more “moderate way”.

“There is no issue about complete separation of state and religion because Islam is the religion of the federation, but it is not a theocratic state where you can impose Islamic laws on everybody, including non-Muslims,” he said.

PM Anwar Ibrahim

Keep in mind that this moderate form of secularism does not apply to unilateral conversion or the banning of words, films and any other things that would offend the sensitivities of Muslims.

Indeed, Madani has gone out of its way to protect Muslim sensitivities at the expense of non-Muslim sensitivities, and this is by design because it is the desiderata of religious supremacy.

Hence, to claim that Islamic imperatives would not be imposed on non-Muslims is complete horse manure.

When we talk of religious provocations, we have to understand that it is institutional.

Preachers like Firdaus Wong and Zamri Vinoth are protected because they are part of the institution.

Furthermore, look at how the police behaved in raiding a “gay party“ in Kelantan and the lies and misinformation spread during that fiasco.

The action of the police in Kelantan is particularly egregious because the top brass continued with the disingenuous narrative that they were disrupting a “gay sex party”, even though the Health Ministry confirmed that this was an event it was involved in.

The PAS state government even thanked the police for acting the way they did, even though what they did contradicted what a federal agency said about this so-called “gay sex party”.

So this is not only political, but it would seem an action endorsed by Madani. Because Madani has chosen to remain silent, this sets a precedent for the police in all other states to carry out their duties based on religious dogma, as the Kelantan police justified.

The reality is that Madani has not offered an alternative religious agenda, and what the non-Muslim voters are left with is either not voting and getting a religious state at a faster pace or voting and still getting a religious state, but at a slower pace. - Mkini

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.