Will you guarantee our religious freedom? – Kasthuri Patto

Will the deputy prime minister, home minister and inspector-general of police reassure the public that they will do their impossible to uphold Article 11 of the Federal Constitution for every person and their right to profess and practise his religion and to manage its own religious affairs?

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday delivered his keynote address at a forum in PWTC entitled “Engaging the young to criminalise war and energise Ppace” to motivate the younger generation to help spread the message of peace and goodwill, stressing that any extremism must be nipped in the bud.

Little did he know that about 25km away, about 50 residents staged a protest against a new church situated in a shop lot in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, after a cross was put up on the building in a majority Malay-Muslim area.

The reason? The cross on the building challenges their faith (aqidah). One person was seen in the video saying “Kita mau turun ini barang jugak”, pointing at the cross. Another was seen carrying a Manila card with the words “Jangan cabar umat Islam Taman Medan”.

What has become of the identity of this multicultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic nation in the region that, once upon a time, was the pride and joy of my Malaysia?

Today, a cross which is a symbol of Christianity is accused of being a threat to sway away young Muslims in Taman Medan. A cross is now capable of shaking the faith of our Muslim brothers and sisters?

I find that painful to believe. That the seeds of religious intolerance planted so long ago by political parties dictated by ethnicity are finally bearing fruit. Ethnic polarisation has now become the cardinal prerequisite for religious parochialism.

This incident is the result of decades of cementing ethnic-based policies and ethnic-based politics all in a climate of fear. Nevertheless, like-minded, peace loving, patriotic Malaysians have made their stand.

However, with more and more men and women from all walks of life disregarding “old-school-race-based-politics”, faith in humanity, tolerance and moderation has been restored in the hearts of Malaysians alike when Muslim men and women took to Twitter and expressed their disapproval at what had transpired in Taman Medan.

One had tweeted, “Asking a church to take down its cross is the equivalent of asking a mosque to remove its 'kubah'/minaret”. Not one to back down from speaking his mind, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah too tweeted “Islam does not teach Muslims to ask church to bring down d cross”.

Two days after the October 22 shooting in the Canadian Parliament last year, a mosque in Cold Lake, Alberta was vandalised with the words “Go home” sprayed across the front face of the building. Two of its windows had been also smashed.

Hours later, dozens of people from the town turned up to repair the damage and taped their own messages to the window reading "You Are Home" and "Love Your Neighbour." Needless to say, the message was powerful and jolted the world that was already bleeding from the propagation of extremism.

Vandals and extremists did not speak for the majority of the town. The mayor, too, had condemned it, saying "I just want to say that the Muslim community is at home in Cold Lake, so maybe they need to evaluate whether or not they belong in Cold Lake," he said.

Here, too, like-minded, peace loving, patriotic Canadians had made their stand.

Now that Malaysians alike have spoken openly against religious bigots, will the DPM, home minister and IGP reassure the public that they will do their impossible to uphold Article 11 of the Federal Constitution for every person and their right to profess and practise his religion and to manage its own religious affairs?

* Kasthuri Patto is the Batu Kawan MP and vice-chairperson of Penang Wanita DAP