The cow and the whip
By Hafidz Baharom (The Malaysian Insider)
SEPT 2 — The Cow
The cow is considered a holy symbol by Hindu worshippers, to the point that if a cow basically sat on a road in India, you’re looking at waiting in the car until it decides to move for itself. Were it to do that in our nation, we’d probably be looking at roadkill.
Or perhaps some people from Shah Alam would decide that since Hindus will be making an appearance in their housing area, they’d go for Friday prayers at the state mosque, and then drag a cow’s head to the State Secretariat building a stone’s throw from my home. As if that was not enough, they’d probably start spitting on the head of the cow and stomping on it.
This is an obvious depiction of how these 50 people out of a million residents in Shah Alam have just insulted the cow as a religious symbol, and there is no way one can spin it otherwise. What’s even more disturbing is the fact that this actually took place in Ramadhan.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the Holy Month where wars and conflicts are stopped and put to a hold?
Please note, PAS Youth, that I mentioned ‘conflicts’, not ‘concerts.
If so, then why is it these 50, using the name of Islam, can actually come out and threaten bloodshed should the moving of the temple still take place?
There are many things that I question on this issue. Primarily, on the state government’s side, why was the movement of the temple changed from Section 19 to Section 23, whereas it was earlier planned to be moved to Section 22?
The state government need not have a townhall to explain it to me. Just a press release will do.
Secondly, for the police to justify their inaction by allowing the 50 protesters to actually break the law first is amazing. I thought the police were there to maintain civil order as well as the rule of law. So when these protesters decided to incite religious hatred by threatening bloodshed as well as stomping and spitting on a cow’s head, and for the police to just watch and let it happen was obviously irresponsible.
In fact, with the first person who asked me to comment, I basically suggested that the 50 not only be arrested, but they should have spent their time in prison eating meat and only meat, just to keep them loyal to their cause.
The Whip
As most of those who have read my pieces here before now know, I’m a drinker.
Other than the gender and the looks, Kartika Dewi Shukarno, a Perak born part time model who is a Singaporean permanent resident, is different from me in another way.
She got caught by the religious authorities in Pahang.
Considering I’ve never gone to a hotel in Pahang to actually drink, I don’t exactly have a clue just how tough their moral policing is since it’s under the influence of the state, not the federation.
What I do know is this. If our religious authorities want to whip every single offender of this law that they catch, it’s fine with me. Go ahead. Catch and whip them. However, what I don’t get is this.
While you’re whipping the local Muslims, dearest religious authority, why don’t you start issuing out the same sentence to the non-local Muslims?
How about the Middle Easterners who come visit our country specifically for this and other vices offered during their holidays?
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