By Sheridan Mahavera (The Malaysian Insider)
Kuala Lumpur, Jan 11 — While the despair Christians feel over the events on Friday and later over the weekend is palpable, so is the bitterness by Muslims that things have come to such a head on something they never imagined would be contested. The official line is that the government is going after the arsonists in the attacks on churches that began Jan 8.
That Barisan Nasional (BN), especially Umno, did not direct, plan or had any knowledge of the attacks. Most importantly, Umno leaders stress that they did not incite Muslims organisations to hold demonstrations against the use of Allah by non-Muslims. The popular and not entirely unsubstantiated view among non-Muslims and some Muslims varies between Umno creating the issue in the first place (an Umno minister had banned the Herald from using Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia section), to inciting the protests, to the party not doing enough to calm things down and thus preventing the church attacks. It is not that absurd a view if one studies the background of the groups who protested and the events leading up to it.
This is what had BN leaders such as Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon visiting Christian groups and meeting pastors. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also visited and pledged RM500,000 in aid for the partially gutted Metro Tabernacle church in Desa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur. But in the perception-rules reality of Malaysian politics, BN still stands to lose much support from the urban electorate, say non-Muslims interviewed. Yet what has not been considered is how far this issue has rankled ordinary Muslims — the thousands who did not join the protests but who put their names on petitions and joined web groups fighting for the same thing as the demonstrators.
Or the fact that the demonstrations included groups that do not traditionally support Umno. In other words, if Umno and BN lose the support of Christians and non-Muslims, can parties who allow Allah to be used by non-Muslims, such as Parti Keadilan Rakyat and PAS, lose the support of Muslims? Beyond these questions of political gain and loss, however, is how this issue, according to an academic, has cut deep to the elemental foundations of Malaysian society. Church volunteer R. Williams (not his real name) started fearing the worst when he read on Thursday Najib saying that the government did not have the power to stop demonstrations against the use of Allah by non-Muslims. “This was like a green light,” he says, adding that the next day, he almost came to tears when the three churches were torched.
“Then the next day he goes and says he will catch the culprits. What am I supposed to believe?” Williams is not suggesting that Najib gave his approval for the protests, which took place at several mosques after Friday prayers, or that the Umno president condoned the church attacks. What he and a Barisan Nasional Indian activist meant was that many believe the BN federal administration practised double standards when it came to the demonstrations. "When it was Hindraf (in 2007), the government said ‘protests are not our culture.’ When people protested against the fall of the Perak government in early 2009, they said the same thing. "But when it came to these (the Friday) demos, ‘Government has no power to stop...’ Why play different music?” says the BN activist who declined to reveal his name for fear of reprisal.
Almost all non-Muslims and some Muslims interviewed requested anonymity or a change of name for fear of their personal security. The Indian activist claims that among non-Muslim BN supporters, the feeling is that the coalition will be punished at the ballot box. “BN’s survival rests on Sabah and Sarawak, and now we are going to lose in those two states,” says the activist. A Malay-Muslim government officer described the violence and anger by his fellow Muslims as “stupid and ridiculous.” “Nik Aziz (Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Nik Mat) himself explained that Allah is not exclusive to Islam. This issue has been played up for political mileage.” Other non-Muslim BN activists, however, disagree, saying that it should be seen for what it is, a religious issue that cuts at the heart of Muslims.
“The term should just have been reserved for Muslims and Islam. Everyone knows that it’s sacred to them so why challenge it?” asks Kota Baru MCA division chief Tan Ken Ten.
Johor Baru MCA division official Michael Tay also does not buy the argument that Umno should be blamed for all that happened. “If Umno spent so much time building up unity through 1 Malaysia and convincing people about it, do you think they would just destroy all of that work? “Fanatics are hard to deal with for anyone. You can’t just tell them not to demonstrate because they get pent up and explode,” says Tay, who is deputy chairman of the division’s complaints bureau. “At the end of it, we must respect Islam because this is the religion of the majority.”
Professor Dr Mansor Mohd Noor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia says that Peninsular Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority and the centrality of religion in the community is largely why the debate is so explosive. His research for UKM’s Inter-ethnic Studies Institute shows that different Malaysian ethnic groups have different “ethnic parameters” that form the crux of their identity. And when these parameters are crossed, it sets these groups off and emotions usually trump rationality. For Chinese Malaysians, the parameter is Mandarin. For the Indians and Malays, it is always religion. For the indigenes of Sarawak and Sabah, it is tribal identity, says Mansor. “For Muslims in East Malaysia, the use of Allah by non-Muslims is not a problem because their identity is tied to a tribe rather than to a religion.”
In the peninsula, a Muslim is almost always automatically marked as Malay while in East Malaysia, explains Mansor, a Muslim can either be an Iban, a Kadazandusun, a Melanau or from another tribe. “So you cannot expect a peninsula Muslim to be as tolerant as an East Malaysian Muslim when it comes to questioning aspects of Islam. “This is why the use of Allah in Christian sermons and activities in East Malaysia is tolerated all this while by local Muslims. But when the issue comes to the peninsula, peninsula Muslims explode.” Mansor believes for the peninsula Muslims, the political party that is seen as supposedly defending this core identity is the one that will gain their support.
Shah Alam Pas MP Khalid Samad is aware of the political risks in the party’s stand to allow non-Muslims to use Allah. At a protest at the Selangor State mosque in his own constituency, a group of men walked all over his picture and urged him to change his stand over the issue. The mosque committee had even set up tables at four places where Muslims could sign a petition against non-Muslims using Allah. There were constant queues at all the tables before and after prayers. “There is a difference in understanding among Muslims. We are interested in the textual proof in the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet. It is quite clear. Unfortunately many Muslims in Malaysia are still ignorant and kept that way by the government. “So it is for PAS to explain this. At the same time, you cannot judge a whole community just by the actions of a few. “Yes, they seemed many (at the demonstrations) but realise also that there are many Muslims in PAS and PKR who agree with us.” said Khalid
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