How about a ‘KL Dialogue’ to address identity politics?

 

Addressing the ministerial session of the “Delhi Dialogue” on June 17 in New Delhi, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said hypernationalism and identity politics were harming peaceful coexistence among nations.

He was reported by Bernama as saying: “The timing of this dialogue is very significant because we are discussing building bridges at a time when identity and nationalistic politics threaten to edge out values of moderation and tolerance.”

Among other things, the minister also expressed concern over a rise in religious extremism. Democracy, he lamented, was backsliding.

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Most of us would agree with his position. Malaysians would also agree that most of what Saifuddin said about the global situation pertains to Malaysia as well.

Identity politics is ruining Malaysia; religious extremism is gaining nourishment; and the speed at which democracy is sliding is troubling.

It’s well and good to articulate such issues in the international arena but, as the saying goes, charity begins at home.

What is the government doing to tackle identity politics? What is the government doing to curb religious extremism? What is the government doing to reform institutions and laws to strengthen democracy?

Allow me to limit myself to identity politics here. What are we, as citizens, doing about this? Aren’t we party to the furthering of identity politics?

Consider the last time you voted: Did you pick someone based on his or her ideas and abilities or on his or her race or religion or some other affiliation? If it was the latter, you have contributed to the problem.

The supreme example of identity politics in recent times was the toppling of the elected Pakatan Harapan government in 2020 when right-wing Malays in PH quit the coalition to join forces with Umno and PAS to ensure a Malay-Muslim government. It was a dark day for democracy.

And yes, Saifuddin was among the PKR MPs who, together with the bulk of Bersatu MPs, quit PH and went on to form an alliance with Umno, PAS and others. By doing so, they indicated agreement with the successful campaign by Umno and PAS – which had then joined hands to promote a Malay/Muslim polity – to create a false narrative that the Malays were losing political power.

PAS continues to take the stand that Muslim unity is the priority in nation building. It insists that Muslim parties join hands in the next general election. Its vice president Mohd Amar Abdullah was quoted on June 19 as saying PAS would not join the grand coalition of political parties proposed by Pakatan Harapan to battle the Barisan Nasional in the 15th general election.

“PAS will not stop calling on all Malay-Muslim parties, both Umno and Bersatu, to work together in rebuilding the country and strengthening Muslims,” he was quoted as saying.

The instability faced by the nation today and the problems associated with it are largely due to the triumph of identity politics.

Although it has been present since the birth of the nation, it is only from the 1980s that identity politics has become the curse of our nation. If anything, the monster has only grown bigger.

Identity politics has succeeded in “othering” Malaysian citizens. The most serious of this is the officially sanctioned separation of Malaysians into Malays and non-Malays or Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras. Then we have the identification of Malaysians as Muslims and non-Muslims.

Apart from these, there are several other identifications that further split Malaysians. This includes the separation between those from Peninsular Malaysia and the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, and between “liberal” Malays and “conservative” Malays.

So much so that even the targeting of corrupt officials is seen as targeting only a certain race, or is skewed by political propaganda machinery to seem as if this is the case.

Let me give an example: My residential area has a WhatsApp group chat and one day, a non-Malay shared a video of Najib Razak. He added his own comment about not understanding how the Malays could continue to support a convicted felon.

Another resident, a Malay, replied. Giving his house number, he asked the man who had shared the video to meet him outside his gate “so that we can settle this”.

Another area where identity politics is causing harm is the civil service. Any deficiency in the civil service is seen as a deficiency in a particular race and any criticism regarding the deficiency of the civil service is seen as an attack on a particular race.

This is ridiculous. People are corrupt not because they belong to this race or that religion. They are corrupt because they are greedy and lack moral rectitude.

Idiocy, ignorance, incompetence and brutishness are not the domain of any one race or group.

Certainly we cannot run away from identity politics so long as we have different ethnicities and groups practising different religions or upholding different political ideals. But this should never override the national identity – that we are all Malaysians.

Perhaps Saifuddin – who was once CEO of the Global Movement of Moderates – would be good enough to initiate a “Kuala Lumpur Dialogue” involving Malaysians to thrash out issues related to identity politics in Malaysia and what can be done to mitigate, if not eradicate, it.

Let us build bridges to strengthen the values of moderation and tolerance – and other humane values – in Malaysia first. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.