PETALING JAYA - Irresponsible individuals who spread photos of the non-Muslim pupils forced to eat in the dressing room of a school toilet can be investigated under the Sedition Act 1948, said Selangor acting police chief Datuk A Thaiveegan.
According to Thaiveegan, such action could create provocative and racial issues.
"Police will not hesitate to take action against those who disseminate seditious information about the school on the social networking sites," he was reported as saying by Utusan Online on Thursday.
Photos first published on Facebook showing some Chinese and Indian pupils forced to eat near to a toilet because the headmaster had purportedly ordered the canteen to be closed so as to respect the Muslim fasting month had sparked outrage.
Muslim hardliners and the Malay-ultra gaining the upper hand?
The Education ministry has since ordered a probe into the school, the Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Pristana in Sungai Buloh, but has failed to make public its findings.
Thaiveegan's comments are bound to spark another furore.
Civil society leaders and activists are already alarmed at the manner in Prime Minister Najib Razak's government appears to be resorting to draconian laws to stop criticism and dissent, with many authorities and agencies frequently using the flimsiest grounds to support their hardline actions.
A recent example is the Alvivi case, where two young Chinese bloggers had published an insulting Ramadan greeting on their Facebook page. In a prosecution reeking of racism, the government slapped on charges using 3 major laws including the Sedition Act, which ironically Najib had promised to abolish.
Alvin and Vivian were also unfairly denied bail and forced to stay in prison for more than a week before the High Court finally overturned the bail denial today.
All eyes including from the international community are now on how the Najib administration navigates the current spate of racial and religious bullying.
Many fear a return to power by Muslim hardliners and Malay supremacists following Najib's weak performance in the recent general elections, where he failed to stop the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition from further eroding his Barisan Nasional's majority.
No wonder we don't want to send our kids to your schools
Within the BN coalition, there are contrasting responses to the latest 'toilet canteen' incident, with an official of the Malaysian Chinese Association lambasting the school authorities and demanding an explanation.
"This makeshift canteen has fully exposed the school for their lack of sensitivity and complete disregard for health codes. Since the Ministry of Education has ordered an investigation, I hope they can announce the findings and give a full account to the parents and the public," Chong Sin Woon, the MCA Youth Education Bureau chairman, said in a statement.
"For some time now the non-Muslim and Chinese communities have shown reluctance in sending their children to Sekolah Kebangsaan for fear of one’s religious values imposed on others. The Ministry of Education must address this issue, more so during this Ramadan month when the incident had caused a furore and dealt a further blow in the communities’ trust and confidence regarding Sekolah Kebangsaan."
Selling out his own community?
The Malaysian Indian Congress has however rushed to defend the school authorities in a bid that is widely perceived to be aimed at getting into the good books of Najib's Malay-based Umno party.
“As far as we know, the issue is now closed. The headmaster has the good intention but chosen an unsuitable place. He has apologised. I have also apologised. It will not happen again,” MP for Hulu Selangor P Kamalanathan told Sinar Harian following a visit to the school.
"The changing rooms had been used along with the canteen by all students since March, because the canteen can only seat 500 to 600 people. SK Seri Pristana has 1,300 students. Due to renovations beginning in the canteen two weeks ago, all children were asked to eat in the changing rooms. This is because teachers were concerned the kids might get hurt during renovations."
Stop covering up and just lay down the law fairly and squarely for all, regardless of race
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has accused the MIC of a cover up, blaming the Najib administration for the rising racism in the country due to its reluctance to punish ultra-Malay groups like Perkasa.
"Such nervous hastiness in closing the controversy will be seen as a cover-up unless Kamalanathan can explain why the parents were not informed since March this year that the canteen will be relocated to the shower room because of renovations. Further why were there no signs of renovation of the canteen? If the renovation has been only recently completed, why was the canteen not reopened? Lastly how can Kamalanathan fail to address the parents’ complaints that their children were only asked to eat in the makeshift canteen in the shower room two days into Ramadan?" Guan Eng said in a statement.
"The failure of the BN Federal government to punish unapologetic Perkasa leaders for its racist and extremist calls to burn the Bible and make anti-Hindu insults, when the young Alvivi couple was rightfully charged in court for being disrespectful to Islam even though they had apologised, clearly does not help to refute allegations of double-standards."
Malaysia Chronicle
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