“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”
- Robert F Kennedy
In a recent piece attempting to explain the continued coddling of Abdul Hadi Awang by the state, P Ramasamy, one of the few truth-tellers in Pakatan Harapan, wrote: “It is the political system in the country premised on racism and religious bigotry that enabled a person like Hadi to make nonsensical remarks and get away with them.”
While rational people would not find anything objectionable about that statement, the reality is that the political system is made up of the establishment and the opposition, and tragically for decent Malaysians, the system is based on using an interpretation of religion to narcotise the majority in this country.
Any attempt by anyone to question this status quo is immediately sanctioned by the state and people will retreat to made-up terms like Islamophobia to stomp out rational discussion.
Demagogues, the world over, of course, target minorities to further fascist ideals.
What is solely a Muslim issue is this idea that any criticisms of Islam are an attack on Muslims or that acknowledging empirical evidence of the way how “Islamic” states operate are anathema to freedoms and rights enjoyed in the progressive world is verboten in "civilised" company.
Any contrary narrative to the acceptable politically-correct discourse is an attack on peaceful, peace-loving people who have always been at the mercy of colonialism or other forms of “Western” imperial ambitions.
Why do you think religion permeates every public institution in this country?
Why do you think the religious bureaucracy is granted huge amounts of monies?
Why do you think that religious schools are allowed to operate with very little oversight?
Why do you think that the state security apparatus is mired in the kind of religious toxicity that allows them to ignore the civil courts and not give back M Indira Gandhi's child?
Why do you think that the state does not want to sanction the wrongdoers who were involved in the enforced disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat?
And if you think that this only applies to BN and PN, you are deluded. This is about redefining the Islamic narrative in this country.
If Harapan for instance, decided that it would use the religious bureaucracy and funding to educate Malays in maths, science and English, what do you think the outcome would be for an ever-growing population, mired in religious toxicity?
It would be paradigm-shifting, right? This is what the mainstream political establishment fears.
Speak up
Blaming non-Muslims is part of the strategy of deflection while reinforcing the point that Muslims are “moral” polities influenced by other religions.
Remember when the police chief of Terengganu claimed that the reason why there was no gangsterism in his state was that the majority were Malays?
The Kedah MB decides that his religious obligation trumps the rights of non-Muslims and bans gambling outlets.
Every time there is political instability, Muslim political operatives use religion as a means to shore up support or demonise the non-Muslim community.
Former Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan was right when she said that non-Muslims must speak up when their rights are infringed. We should speak up as long as we have the ability.
Instead, what we have are non-Muslim political operatives who don the hijab and gaslight non-Muslims into believing that acceptance is a two-way street in Malaysia when it is not and when in power attempt to quell liberal Muslims from speaking up because this would create racial and religious panic.
Do not get sidetracked. Yes, policies of the state are premised on racism and bigotry but the first principles of the system are based on an interpretation of Islam that is not only foreign to this soil but also was a deliberate attempt to subvert regional cultural norms.
Hadi is merely a messenger boy for an ideology that has outgrown its progenitors and is a beast in itself.
But more than that, what the PAS president says has been part of the propaganda of the hegemonic Umno for decades.
What do you think goes on in the National Civics Bureau (BTN) course for example? Demonising the non-Malays/Muslims is the propaganda of choice for nearly all establishment political operatives.
‘Pak turut’
Hadi claiming that non-Muslims can only be pak turut is the same as Dr Mahathir Mahathir et al, claiming that Muslims have lost political power in this land.
The only difference is that Hadi uses his religion which is the religion of the state, so, anyone attempting to charge him is in reality opening up the mainstream interpretation of Islam for investigation.
And this is the key. People make the mistake of thinking that is just pulling this nonsense out of his posterior. He is not.
What we are talking about here is an interpretation of dogma, which has no real alternative narrative and is the mainstream narrative of Islam in this country.
Does anyone think that the state is going to assess how religion is influencing people to spew extremist rhetoric?
They may ban communist writings for example for influencing the rakyat but would anyone ban the texts of Hadi because it promotes “extremism”?
An indictment against Hadi is an indictment against the religion of the state. We can’t have that, can we?
As long as there is no alternative narrative, there is absolutely nothing that can be done.
It really does not matter who is in power because they will always be cowed or would use the religion of the state to maintain hegemony.
This remains the state of play. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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