“Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?” - Sandra Day O’Connor
In my writings over the years, I have made it very clear that I view religious extremism as the existential threat to this country. Issues of corruption closely linked to corporate malfeasances are subordinate to the danger of the theocratic state project.
Yes, they are not mutually exclusive but a country can recover from a kleptocracy, it cannot recover from a theocracy.
From the extremely malevolent citizenship amendments to the way how this regime has been warning journalists and citizens to report the “truth” or face sanctions from the state, this regime is attempting to scare the non-Malays that the people in power now are a better option than the people wanting to claim power, all the while signalling to the Malay-majority electorate that there is very little sunlight between the policies of this unity government and PN.
Funnily enough, this is not a “Malay” problem. The popular Malay vote is not with this government, hence the fall of this government is not something the majority of Malays are fearful of.
The people most invested in this government are moderate Malays (not even progressive or liberal but middle-of-the-road when it comes to their religious inclinations, Malays) and of course the non-Malay/Muslim polity.
So, if anyone wants Anwar to have a second term, it is this base.
Anwar, meanwhile, has remained silent when his comrades’ cars have been firebombed by terrorists, a KK Mart was an attempted target of a terrorist attack, and - as of writing - another KK Mart has been targeted in a successful if non-fatal terrorist attack, and of course, the numerous other racial and religious provocations that his non-Malay base has been subjected to.
Treating terrorists with kid gloves
The second terrorist attack against KK Mart elicited a tepid response from Anwar loyalist and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who said: “I urge those who pushed for this boycott to also take responsibility to defuse the situation and end actions stoking public sentiment.”
Excuse me, why isn’t the Madani government taking responsibility and detaining Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh under Sosma or whatever draconian laws that Harapan political operatives now claim are needed to protect racial and religious harmony?
And why ask people like Akmal to take responsibility when you are essentially saying the same thing Akmal is saying?
When Akmal called for a boycott, the government should have distanced itself from Umno Youth and Umno’s provocations and instead called for people to respect the investigative process.
The prime minister’s response only after the second attack was no better. These were terrorist attacks enabled and emboldened by the polemics coming from his unity government.
By warning people not to take the law into their own hands, he is implying that there’s a rational and justifiable basis for their anger.
This is not the right approach to terrorist attacks. Anwar should have practised the moderate Islam he likes to preach about.
Instead, the Madani regime - which included the DAP - simply said nothing and stood idly by, and in some cases, encouraged aggrieved feelings within the Malay polity.
You do not get to condemn the arsonist when you did nothing to prevent his act which led to the fires that everyone is now attempting to distance themselves from.
Non-Malays have no alternative
Anwar is very well aware that although non-Malays rant and rave on social media, the reality is that when it comes to the ballot box, they will vote for his proxies because they believe that as flawed as he is, there is no alternative.
This is why Rafizi Ramli so confidently said “If you want to talk about the trust deficit of non-Malays, I can confidently say that more than 90 percent of non-Malay voters have full confidence in today’s unity government. If there is a trust deficit, it is a trust deficit in the opposition, not the government.”
Take the KK Mart issue, for instance. Now, you can make the argument that there is inter-party political chicanery afoot and Akmal is merely a proxy for interests within Umno hostile to this unity government, but the fact that Anwar - for whatever reason - is not willing to publicly rebuke a young upstart causing not only religious and racial issue but also economic issue demonstrates how ineffective he is as a leader or how much say he has in what Umno does.
This is why PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang laments the old timers, who desperately attempt to replicate the success of BN when the political terrain has changed.
Hadi understands that the fear of the “Green Wave” in the non-Malays is so powerful, that they will let Anwar, supported by the DAP, hasten the Islamisation of this country, thus doing his job for him.
Remember when Anwar expanded the budget and role of Jakim because he wanted to introduce a more “moderate” form of Islam in the Malaysian body politic?
Dissenters who were appalled by this move were dismissed by the prime minister who reportedly said: “I want Jakim not only to talk about religion and Islamic law. Jakim is to expand its duties, talk about economic issues, look at digital programmes, and look at the education curriculum.
“The responsibility is broader, so that the values of Islam can be applied, and this is opposed by those who do not understand, a small group of non-Muslims who write that ‘Anwar is now displaying his strong Islamist attitude, which he has tried to hide all this time by ordering Jakim to control all the systems’.”
It’s all about power
Look at how nobody in the mainstream political or religious establishment can bring themselves to admit that the people causing racial and religious tension are political operatives within the unity government. Keep in mind that the issue is not an issue about religious sensitivities.
If non-Malays reacted the way some Malays reacted to the Allah socks issue when it came to their sensitivities, there would immediately be a crackdown and political operatives would be detained under the various laws that Harapan promised to ditch.
Can you imagine if a Malay political operative’s cars were firebombed because the non-Malays perceived that he had insulted their religion? What do you think the outcome would be?
The KK Mart issue is not about faith. It is about power.
The fact that the prime minister cannot outright condemn these terrorist acts and he and his allies play into the narrative that the Allah socks issue is an egregious stain on Islam in this country is indicative of the direction this country is heading towards when it comes to the theocratic state project.
At this point, does it really matter if it is Harapan or PN leading the country if the destination is the same? - 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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