Sock-gate: The experts have spoken, what says the government?

 

EXPERTS have spoken on the recent incidents associated with Allah sock controversy.

Preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE) expert Altaf Deviyati, Munira Mustaffa, who is an expert in counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism (CVE) and Tashny Sukumaran, an independent researcher specialising on human right have given their perspectives, according to local daily.

According to Altaf, “(the controversy) is a classic case of how a local issue ignites and allows for violent acts to be so called permitted in the name of defending religion”.

The incident indicates that locals are involved and it is a culmination of seismic shift in the political landscape after the 2018 General Election.

They are resorting to violence due to the dissatisfaction as they feel they do not have a platform to be heard. Furthermore, she said if not arrested by local leaders, it may spill over to ethnic conflicts.

Echoing Altaf, Munira opined that the situation can be mitigated by identifying the source of instigation which is a “manufactured error” through social media thereby animating and emboldening the perpetrators.

“They should avoid rage-baiting malicious speech or actions designed to foster divisiveness that could promote acts of violence,” she reckoned.

Meanwhile, Tashny noted that the authorities should ask themselves if their definition of “hate speech” is truly built on fairness and protects minorities, or merely emboldens and bolsters conservative narratives.

He further on to say that politicians should not be stoking the fires of hatred by encouraging boycotts and, tacitly, vigilantism. Rather, leaders should be promoting and prioritising peace and moderation.

Studying the statements from these experts, what we can conclude is that the politicians are the main culprits and the person who initially ignited and incited is from the government.

The government allowed issue to snowball to a higher level with three attacks at various locations.

The government do not have the capacity nor the experience to build resilience immediately along with local leaders.

Everybody seems to take an approach of “wait and see” as they are more concerned with their own “political fallouts” if the trajectory is incorrectly managed. Everything is looked through a political lenses not through genuine concern of the citizens.

Even after three attracts on various locations, the police have not found the culprits or their associates, thus raising questions about the police’s capacity and ability as it is a local issue.

The whole world is watching closely of how the government is managing the Allah controversy as it involves religious sentiments.

Let us not allow external forces to interfere in our domestic issue by unilateral approach. The government must remember that when we are divided domestically and our unity is fragile and superficial, foreign interference is eminent as local recruits are easily available for their agenda. 

K. Tamil Maran (K.T. Maran)
Seremban

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

- Focus Malaysia