Way of the middle path

By Zainah Anwar, The Star

Political leaders must work together to delegitimise extreme and intolerant voices. The public cannot be given mixed and confusing signals.

In the last few weeks, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in seeming earnestness, has been calling for the voice of moderation to prevail in Malaysia and in the world.

He has even introduced an Arabic word to the Malaysian vocabulary – wasatiyyah, which means “the middle way”.

At the United Nations General Assembly, he called for a “Global Movement of the Moderates” to take the world’s centre stage and marginalise today’s extremists. Let the voice of moderation be heard, he said.

He repeated the call at the recent Umno general assembly, reminding members that it is the Malay trait of moderation that has enabled the community to be accepted as leaders in a multicultural society.
One with the people: Najib shaking hands with the crowd during the launch of ‘Little India’ in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. He is calling for a new political model to bring back moderation into Malaysian politics. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

Let’s hope his attempts to steer the nation towards the middle path is not too late. The supremacist rhetoric of recent years has escalated, giving considerable anxiety to level-headed and yes, moderate Malaysians. Many are worried that contentious religious and race issues are spinning out of control.

Much of this has been brought about by Malaysian politicians who have opportunistically used race and religion to manufacture fear and anxiety for short-term gain.

Unfor­tunately, the political leadership has not displayed the will and courage to deal directly and immediately with such offensive voices.

Over time, the bigotry displayed by a few have been legitimised by the silence and inaction of those in power.

Now, the Prime Minister is calling for a new political model to bring back moderation into Malaysian politics. It would be one based on a shared future and a common understanding of history, without losing sight of today’s realities as well as the challenges of the future.

Given that politicians live for their immediate survival, this is a tall order.

As it is, a handful in Umno such as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin are already paying the political price of challenging populist leaders who use fear and hatred for political gain.

Several others are furiously back-pedalling, knowing the consequences they will suffer within the party.

I hope Datuk Seri Najib’s speech at the Umno general assembly will set the tone and pace on how the Government intends to move in the future.

Public scepticism and distrust of government are pervasive. As such, promises of change must quickly translate into serious action.

Most of all, the “Global Movement of the Moderates” must begin at home.

The days of making police reports and mobilising mobs to surround halls to break up meetings of those who don’t share your position are gone.

The ISA can no longer be used to arrest those who disagree with the dominant opinions of those in power, be it on Islam or the social contract.

The repercussions of using power bluntly on a people who have matured politically can only be disastrous for the authorities. So let’s forget these rough methods and instead, open the space for a rational and informed dialogue on contentious issues. The singular objective must be to find solutions which are fair and just.

Political leaders must work together to delegitimise extreme and intolerant voices. The public cannot be given mixed and confusing signals – when one leader promotes unity and understanding, another should not undermine this.

Yet, such conflicting messages sometimes appear on the very same day!

Trust cannot be rebuilt when the message of change and moderation is consistently undermined by actions that reek of “it’s business as usual”.

Above all, wasatiyyah requires political courage. This is the core strength needed to face those who do not believe that Malaysia’s survival as a prosperous and peaceful nation can be achieved by accommodating and wisely managing the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests of our ethnic and religious groups.

The attempts to establish an inter-faith platform to build understanding and respect across religions and to find solutions to intractable problems have all been still-born. This is largely because the Government retracts when voices oppose the effort or idea.

Some Muslims, it appears, harbour the fear that sitting on an inter-faith platform as equals with people of other faiths will diminish the status of Islam as the religion of the Federation and its superiority as a religion.

Yet, there is no evidence that dialogue among religions can undermine one’s faith. Nor will it lead to the emergence of a new syncretic religion. Certainly, inter-religious discussion will not challenge the constitutional status of Islam or diminish one’s faith and belief.

Yet, in attempts to allay the worries of these few Muslims, the Government has now decided to try another tack. The group we now have is called the Committee for Under­standing and Harmony Among Religious Adherents.

Well, if it takes a rose to be called by any other name to get it to smell as sweet, then so be it. It’s a starting point, some would say. We can only hope that the chairperson Datuk Hajjah Illani Ishak and the 35 members of the committee will seriously get down to work to build respect and understanding and to explore and find solutions to the mounting problems that have damaged race relations in this country.

It is true that compared with many other developing countries, Malaysia still has much going for it.

For instance, fellow citizens exercised tremendous restraint when houses of worship were attacked after the High Court ruling allowed Christians to use the word “Allah”. Such restraint is in fact a reflection of the maturity and resilience of our people.

Amid the tensions of the past year, there were other deliberate provocations to incite racial and religious conflict yet Malaysians, on the whole, made it clear that they would not stomach any violence.

The Government, too, reacted swiftly by taking the perpetrators to court.

This means that we need to build on what is already working in Malaysian society. A positive step forward would be to expand public discourse promoting respect and understanding, not just between but within communities as well.

For years, police reports have been lodged against Sisters in Islam, but not once have the police called the group in for questioning.

However, by the end of last year and into the early part of this year, after receiving scores of police reports lodged against SIS for its position over caning of women for offences under the Syariah Criminal Offences laws, SIS staff and members were twice called in for questioning under the Penal Code and the Sedition Act.

For the first time too, a state religious authority issued an official Friday sermon attacking Sisters in Islam and urging the congregation to take action against us.

Malaysia cannot be serious about leading a “Global Movement of the Moderates” if the many moderate voices at home that stand up for fundamental liberties, the rule of law, democracy, human rights and women’s rights are intimidated and threatened into silence by both state and non-state actors.

That Sisters in Islam has won two court cases against attempts at censoring and silencing its points of view is a comforting assurance that some things – in the right hands – do work and can work in Malaysia.