LETTERS: Malaysia now famous for intolerance
Neil Khor, Cambridge Jul 11, 07 4:50pm
In recent months, Malaysia has made the headlines in the UK for all the
wrong reasons. The latest case involves a Malay singer arrested in Ipoh
and
allegedly ill-treated by religious officials for dressing 'indecently' .
What
people here must have found shocking was the attitude of those who
prosecuted her. The problem was that she was treated with little respect.
Deliberately shamed, the officers took many photographs of her. Here
righteousness, the type that accompany religious superiority, has taken
over. Muslims who do not conform to what these officials consider 'decent'
are being prosecuted.
The religious intolerance of these religious officials springs from
entrenched power. If there are no debates, and meaningful self-reflection
that results in political action, then we will have members of parliament
equating criticism of the government with criticism of the Prophet. That
Malay power and Islam has fused into an exclusive and intolerant body is
leaving Hindu temples in ruins, banana leaf restaurants empty of its
religious symbols and a Hindu, raised as one and married to one, forced to
'rehabilitate' herself.
To make her, a Malaysian citizen protected by a secular constitution,
subject to the religious court that was created to 'defend' the religion
she
was never part of is mind-boggling. That she was then separated from her
children and husband is the height of cruelty.
That none of the mainstream newspapers have had the courage to do a
special
report on this problem, that no public intellectual has spoken up, that
nobody in the government has had the tenacity to stop this type of
prosecution in its tracks reveals how deeply cowed Malaysians are about
religion.
If there can be no mainstream public debate on such pertinent an issue
then
the very fabric of Malaysia's democratic society is in jeopardy. Democracy
is not about holding elections. It is about giving citizens the right to
discuss and debate issues. It is the mark of a mature democracy to be able
to rationally debate sensitive issues when they present themselves.
But the real victim of the actions of these few religious zealots is the
religion itself. No religion can survive such assaults. That Malaysians
are
witness to the smearing of Islam, its good name, its philosophy of
tolerance
and kindness and remain totally unaffected is quite amazing.
The prime minister, who probably has more facts that any of us, has to act
carefully. But act he must for he is quickly losing the support of
moderate
Malaysians.
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