Mufti’s remark shows what’s lacking in Malaysia

Although racial and religious polarisation has been on the rise in Malaysia since the time of political independence, it was the recent change in the political scenario that has provided much impetus and energy for ugly politics to rear its head.

COMMENT

By P Ramasamy

The mufti of Pahang, Abdul Rahman Osman, might not have the credit to be the last person to make an extremely provocative statement by declaring that DAP is “kafir harbi” and as such its leaders could be killed for going against the enforcement of Islamic criminal penalties.

Whether coincidence or not, such a statement came one or two days after an ISIS personnel warned that the police and those “non-believers” would be attacked and killed in Malaysia. This ISIS personnel is a Malaysian and the statement could have been made in Syria.

Abdul Rahman could make his statement and possibly get away simply because the political and cultural environment in the country seems conducive to extremism. Such a remark could have been unthinkable five or ten years ago. Even if he had made the statement then, the police would have pounced and charged him for inciting violence.

However, the political climate in Malaysia has changed for the worse. Although racial and religious polarisation has been on the rise in Malaysia since the time of political independence, it was the recent change in the political scenario that has provided much impetus and energy for ugly politics to rear its head.

Whatever you say about the politics of the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the partnership between DAP, PKR and PAS provided a powerful antidote for the emergence of extreme politics. This coalition without its formalisation was able to check the extent to which Umno could go to exploit religious and racial sentiments in the country.

However, with the disappearance of PR, PAS has moved closer to Umno and has even obtained the support of the latter to table the shariah amendment Bill in the Parliament recently. The shariah or the hudud bill was the concrete manifestation of PAS’ embrace of Umno, but it nonetheless sowed the seeds of how extreme racial Malay politics sought to graft on Islam.

As long as PAS was in the opposition, Umno was checkmated and its brand of politics neutralised. However, the minute PAS moved closer to Umno, due to his own follies, the stage was set for the rise of race politics. Thus, what Abdul Rahman said had nothing with Islam per se. It had all to do with race politics and how it sought to use whatever avenues available to manifest in the most diabolical ways.

Abdul Rahman is an appointed religious official. He has certainly misused his religious position by pouring scorn on the non-Malays in the DAP. His remark calling for the elimination of “non-believers” smacks of ISIS-type politics, which has nothing to do with Islam per se.

In other words, Abdul Rahman was merely an extremist “actor” who acted out the requirements of the larger political scenario.

It has been pointed out, it was not the DAP alone that opposed the hudud bill, but MCA, Gerakan, MIC and a number of prominent Malay Muslim leaders. However, Abdul Rahman seems to have missed including them in his “hit list”.

While there has been much condemnation of Abdul Rahman, however, looking from a different perspective, his utterings provides a powerful reminder what is essentially lacking in this country.

Malaysians have no choice but to frustrate the efforts of persons like Abdul Rahman by engaging in constructive politics that will bring about a more effective multi-racial coalition that will move away from the political decay engendered by Umno and to some extent PAS.

P Ramasamy is deputy national chairman of the DAP.