DAP must insist on PAS leaving Pakatan

By admin-s On Mar 23, 2015

Agreeing to disagree on a law that goes against our Federal Constitution was a mistake, and it provided PAS with an excuse that it could fall back on.

Scott Ng, FMT

In a recent article, I wrote that DAP had slipped up over the hudud issue. It attracted quite a bit of negative attention online. While I concede that the headline did not convey the subtlety of the subject matter in its entirety, it does not distract from the fact that the DAP messed up big time on how it decided to deal with the issue during the campaign for GE13.

Let’s go back to the “agreement to disagree” on the matter of PAS’ more religious goals. In hindsight, it should be clear now to DAP that not taking a stand on the matter was a horrendous mistake. It created the monster that is the ultra-religious PAS we see today. Once again, let me clarify that the issue here is not hudud itself.

The problem is that hudud itself goes against the Federal Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. It is an idea that requires a special dispensation to enact, and that in itself suggests that the highest law of the land is not good enough. Agreeing to disagree on a law that goes against our Federal Constitution was a mistake, and it provided PAS with an excuse that it could fall back on, as Khalid Samad did in defending the hudud move just the other day.

PAS has helped contribute to an us-versus-them mentality when it comes to hudud. It has ingrained the idea among a certain segment of the population that to criticize hudud is equivalent to disrespecting the religion of Islam. I can state unequivocally that I have the highest respect for the religion of peace through a lifetime of association with a great many Muslim friends, who have shown that Malaysians do not need oppressive moral policing to lead upstanding lives according to faith, and that is why the backlash against those criticizing the hudud move is so scary in what it could mean for Malaysia’s immediate future.

Look at the despicable, uncivilized, and deplorable reaction to BFM announcer Aisyah Tajuddin over her very valid criticism of PAS’ hudud move. That a human being would be subjected to death and rape threats from people supposedly upholding the integrity of a religion is irony beyond irony, illustrating the increasing religious polarization Malaysia is currently experiencing, thanks to parties like PAS who use religious language to create the impression that the only right way in the eyes of God is their own.

Those who wished death and rape upon Aisyah deserve to have their curses acted out on them. But that is not the crux of the matter here.

The problem is that we have allowed religious polarization to become this country’s new gospel truth, and it will lead us down a dark path. If rape and murder are acceptable ways of registering one’s displeasure over criticism, then any hope we have of becoming a developed nation is gone.

What is partcularly disturbing about the threat on Aisyah is that she did not even criticize the notion of hudud per se. She merely asserted that PAS had more important concerns than hudud, such as feeding and housing the victims of last year’s flood.