"Princes in this case, do hate the traitor, though they love the treason."
– Samuel Daniel
The question rational Malaysians are asking themselves is how preacher Zamri Vinoth and self-proclaimed land activist Tamim Dahri Abdul Razak fled the country to Thailand? Both have a history of being investigated and then let off the hook.
Both, at various times, have flipped the bird at non-Muslims who have lodged police reports against them, which amounted to a hill of beans.
Now we are expected to believe that these two agitators, who have deep connections with the religious bureaucracy or, at the very least, are enabled by operatives from the religious deep state, suddenly fled the country, and the police cannot find them?
The same police who knew the location of M Indira Gandhi's husband but were hoping for a happy ending, and the same police who could not contact young James Chai?
Zamri (above, left) and Tamim have been arrested and questioned by the state security apparatus before. For whatever reason, both have demonstrated a brazen attitude to the prospect of being sanctioned by Madani.
Zamri has since claimed he did not flee and was willing to meet the inspector-general of police (IGP), which further makes the Royal Malaysia Police look like a bunch of “Keystone cops” who are incompetent.
The fact that Zamri believes that he can meet the IGP to settle this issue and throws accusations at other prominent personalities reacting to his religious extremism points to how compromised the state security apparatus is when it comes to issues like these.
Unequal power
To understand this kind of thinking, all we have to do is observe the rhetoric of independent preacher Firdaus Wong, who has encouraged minors to disobey their parents if they want to convert, and nothing has happened to him.
He said this about the police, when another agitator was targeted: “Once the operation begins, they will haul everyone in. Trust me.”
This is the kind of confidence which is shaped by the knowledge that the state is sympathetic to your cause and the experience of never being sanctioned by the state.
Keep in mind that Zamri reuploaded a video after the state removed it, and no action was taken against him, which is further evidence that when it comes to insulting minorities and their religion, there will always be insufficient evidence for the state to act.
The police, quick to act against perceived insults to the religion of the state, remain lackadaisical when it comes to insults against other religions.
What we are dealing with here are people who aim to sow discontent in the Indian Malaysian community.
The problem with the religious discourse in this country is not that people are going about insulting each other’s religion, but rather the state has the power to sanction people for trespassing on religious and racial issues.
This power is often applied unequally, with the state-sanctioned religion and its adherents getting off scot-free, when the same does not apply to other religions.
To understand this, I refer you to what Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin hopes for, as reported in the press.
“Asri also voiced his hope that Khalid will consider ‘justice for Muslims’, professionalism, the background of the issues involving Zamri and Tamim, as well as the ‘identity’ of the nation.”
The mufti also hoped that any ruling government would safeguard “the nation’s identity, particularly in matters concerning religion and the Muslim community”.
All this basically means is that people should be treated differently depending on their religion. It is as simple as that.
If you think it is seditious of me to claim that religious operatives are, for whatever reasons, being shielded by the state, which includes the vast religious bureaucracy, hold your horses.
Listen to what the Perlis mufti said about the reasons Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) was allowed to operate without state intervention for a long time.
“They may not have picked up this case for certain reasons... some were unwilling to take the risk, and others may have viewed it as insignificant.
“Perhaps some of the group’s (GISBH) beliefs are linked to certain individuals involved, or it may be due to other reasons.”
Law and order
Zamri said he did not flee, and IGP Khalid Ismail said, "Based on intelligence obtained by the police, both suspects have been found to have fled to Thailand.”
Seriously? We are told to believe that the state security apparatus was investigating two suspects in a criminal case, and the police did not have eyes on them?
Think about it this way. Let us say that the police are investigating a terrorist plot, it would only be logical if the police had eyes on the suspects 24/7, right? This is tradecraft 101. What intelligence is the IGP talking about?
The same kind of intelligence that the police in Kelantan had when they raided a Health Ministry-sponsored event in the state, which they claimed was a gay party? So what game is the IGP playing?
Look, I’m not knocking on the police. Believe it or not, from personal experience and a history serving the state security apparatus, I know for a fact that there are police officers who believe that folk like Zamri et all pose a threat to national security.
These are not progressive types by any measure but rather good old-fashioned law and order types who believe that the security of the realm is far more important than any kind of religious ideology.
The fact is, neither Zamri nor Tamim was lying low. Both were using social media for publicity and to agitate against the Indian community.
Zamri was allegedly attacked, and Tamim had caused a firestorm on social media; hence, it was not as if these two criminal masterminds were evading the state.
Indeed, as former Selangor MIC chairperson Awtar Singh, who was involved in a war of words with another agitator, the aptly misnamed Cikgu Chandra (S Chandrasegaran), observed, police personnel were outside the house of this “teacher” when his property was damaged because of his toxic views.
So, if the state security can do all of this, we are to believe that they did not have eyes on these two?
Forces at work
So, what do we know? We know that Zamri was deeply connected with the religious state. We know that both have been investigated at various times and let off by the state.
We know that both were smug and displayed a level of hubris when it came to state investigations into their words and actions.
We have to understand the forces at work here. We have a popular mufti, Asri, who has a well-known animus towards India and who contextualises all conflicts as religious ones.
We have a known Zakir Naik acolyte, Zamri, who is on a crusade to destroy allegedly illegal temples with a supposed nativist activist, Tamim.
The question is not if these two extremists have fled the country, but rather, will the Madani state persecute these two offenders, or will they kowtow to the religious extremists in this country? - Mkini
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.
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