‘Govt exploiting ethnic tensions to justify repressive laws’

Malaysia’s government exploits the country’s ethnic and religious tensions to justify repressive laws curbing fundamental freedoms, a press rights group said today.

Strict state control of the media in the multi-ethnic nation results in “partisanship” that “foments fear and ignorance”, the Malaysia-based Centre for Independent Journalism said in its annual report on the political and media landscape.

“Given the government’s political control over the media, it is hard not to speculate on their role in the prominence of ethno-religious discourse and in the resulting tensions,” the report said.

“When the state and non-state actors champion the cause of narrowly-defined rights and privileges for a specific group over the rights of all citizens, this foments fear and ignorance.

“To stoke the fire, there is also unprecedented partisanship on the issue in a certain media.”

Muslim majority Malaysia is frequently rocked by low-level ethnic strife.

In recent months places of worship have been pelted with petrol bombs, stones and paint, and severed pig heads have been left at mosques over a December court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” as a translation for “God.”

After coming to power last year, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak launched a “1Malaysia” campaign to address barriers between the nation’s ethnic groups — Muslim Malays who dominate the 28-million population, and ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

The report singled out Malay-language media owned by Najib’s Umno.

The group called for the repeal of laws that restrict freedoms such as the Printing Presses and Publication Act which requires all publishers to obtain government permission and making it an offence to print without a permit.

“These laws are also being seen as the tools that facilitate tension, due to restricting discourse and debate, and… voices that are incendiary,” it said.

CIJ said it was “compelled to sound a warning bell” on the danger of messages of partisanship based on ethnicity and religion, adding that the government must repeal the tough laws to promote transparency and unity. – AFP