The panellists of last weekend’s forum discussing their decision to stop wearing the headscarf have condemned the religious probe of the event as “harassment and intimidation” of women activists.
However, they said they would cooperate with the investigation.
“We are ready to give full cooperation to the authorities, however we are unequivocal that there has been no transgression of Malaysian laws.
“We condemn this unnecessary investigation as abuse of power to harass and intimidate women activists who are speaking up on issues affecting women, and organisers for intellectual discussions that do not serve the status quo,” read a statement jointly released today by writer Maryam Lee, lawyer Dian Sofia and journalist-editor Mohani Niza.
They implored the public and authorities to explore the subject of de-hijabbing with “rational thinking and dialogue” as they believe in healthy discourse and the defence of democratic spaces for minorities in Malaysia.
They said the event, held last Saturday, was an intellectual discourse based on their experiences and looking at the issue from a sociological and historical perspective.
Participants left the three-hour event “on a good note”, the trio added.
However, they said, the event began attracting brickbats on social media the next day, mostly by those who did not attend the discussion.
“As a result, they spread misinformation of what was being discussed and distorted perceptions of the book, the author, and the panellists.”
Fear of intellectual discourse
The three forum panellists called for an end to the culture of misinformation and the fear of intellectual discourse.
Last Saturday, Lee launched her book Unveiling Choice at a forum entitled 'Malay Women and De-Hijabbing', held at the Gerakbudaya bookstore in Petaling Jaya.
Besides Maryam, the other two speakers at the forum were Dian and Mohani.
The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) yesterday confirmed that it is probing the forum but declined to provide further details.
This came after Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Religious Affairs Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the day before that he was “seriously concerned” about the event, and had contacted Jais about it. - Mkini
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