How best to resist persecution of The Star, Sivarasa?

Once again, we find ourselves in an atmosphere where non-Muslims in Malaysia are likely to be feeling persecuted.

Hot on the front pages are The Star controversy that emerged from its front page last Saturday (May 27) and the R Sivarasa controversy, fresh off the Kamarul Zaman Yusoff-Hannah Yeoh fiasco.

Other columnists, notably commander (rtd) S Thayarapan in his column on Wednesday (May 31), can much more eloquently articulate the outrage many are understandably feeling.

The points made are, of course, mostly valid.

I definitely agree that the backlash against The Star is more manufactured for political purposes than it is representative of any actual widespread outrage.

I also agree that way too much hay is being made of Sivarasa being invited to say a few words after giving a donation at a mosque.

Both incidents are reminiscent of the Ahok controversy in Indonesia.

Decades of divide and conquer

The context and backdrop to this unrest are the same as it has been in Malaysia for decades: an atmosphere of divide and conquer.

We have political parties created along racial fault lines, and so every issue is made to be a racial/religious one.

With every year that this system remains in place, those fault lines get deeper and deeper - and the divisions they cause ever more hurtful to our nation.

Things also generally worsen as a general election season looms, and Umno feels every need to remind Malays about why they need Umno - creating a bogeyman around every corner.

Pulling out The Star as one of those bogeymen is a throwback almost, and really puts the paper in that unenviable position of being derided as sellouts by most opposition-leaning Malaysians on one hand, and bullied and humiliated by their political masters on the other.

While I imagine almost nobody here is a big fan of The Star , I’m sure equally few will disagree that the reaction to this controversy has been excessively heavy handed.

Sure, it wasn’t a great idea to match that headline and picture. I think it’s useful to recall, however, that the people responsible for those front pages work in a high-pressured environment, regularly making a huge decision that can have very serious implications.

It’s not something only done once a month or once a week, but every 24 hours. In those circumstances, with so little space to breathe in between, surely we can forgive when a slip-up or less than ideal decision is made once in a long while?

Reactions to the extent of criminal investigations are surely over the top, in no small part due to the fact that The Star has already apologised profusely, and suspended key staff - in itself already an over-the-top move.

It’s the same in the Sivarasa case. An emcee asked him to speak at some point in the ceremony, and without thinking much, he likely did the polite thing and stood up to say a few words.

Now, the authorities make it sound like he got up there and tried to convert Muslims to Hinduism in their very own mosque or something. A little far fetched, no?

Beware the trap

As mentioned, there are a lot of reasons to be angry, and to be upset, and to want to fight back somehow.

I would never dream of dissuading anyone who feels the urge to take a stand.

In doing so, however, it is perhaps worth adding that there is always more than one way to resist.

In standing up for our rights, which all people should always do, let us be mindful not to fall into the trap set before us.

The entire purpose of these moves is to engender even more division in our communities.

The more we are divided and angry with one another, the more Umno/BN feel that they can maintain the status quo of a political system organised along racial fault lines.

So, perhaps one of the more effective ways to resist is to remember to be angry at the right people - and not to lump these bad leaders in the same boat as everyone else who looks, talks or prays like them.

Perhaps the best way to frustrate these unscrupulous leaders is to build and bolster interethnic and interreligious bonds in spite of all the efforts to manufacture outrage at one another.

This holy month of Ramadan provides us with ample opportunities to share in a rich tradition with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

As the trend in previous decades has clearly been one of separation and ‘Balkanisation’, let us use such opportunities to reverse this trend as best we can.

Similar to the premise of Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’, politicians in a democracy (even in an only semi-functioning one) draw their strength from the beliefs of their constituents.

If we, as constituents, consciously or subconsciously encourage racial division and distrust in our own lives, then we will see that reflected in our leadership.

After all, that’s how politicians get votes.

Change from bottom up

It does us no good to sit around and wait for ‘better’ politicians to come into power and lead us out of this darkness.

It’s more likely that push will come from us, from the bottom-up - than it will come from them, from the top-down.

Perhaps this is something we should remember, before the next time we want to forward some blatantly anti-Muslim or anti-Malay text or video in our many WhatsApp groups.

The more we conflate “Muslim/Malay” and “Umno”, the more we are playing into the latter’s hands.

At a time like this, asking people to exercise more sensitivity is rather akin to asking them to turn the other cheek.

Some may believe that the notion of turning the other cheek is cowardly and ridiculous. For others, doing so is religious doctrine.

So, while some (legitimately, as is their right) opt to fight fire with fire, perhaps we don’t lose anything by also ‘learning’ what we can from these incidents.

Just small things like: try not to give talks inside a mosque (the compound is fine, according to Azmin Ali) if it isn’t some big matter of principle, or be perhaps a little more thoughtful or have more safeguards when it comes to final layouts for the front pages of newspapers.

Taking these lessons, or ‘pedoman’ (guidance), in no way suggests that the manner in which the authorities have reacted is correct - quite the contrary. It is simply a matter of giving the bad guys less bullets.

We should never back down on matters of principle, but sometimes it will further our own ultimate goals if we consider the cost/benefit ratios of our actions.

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NATHANIEL TAN hopes you’ll check out https://www.tamanrimbakiara.net.- Mkini