Punished for rejecting extremism and radicalism

Jeswan Kaur, Berita Daily

There were and are far too many telltale signs that Putrajaya has no interest in celebrating and respecting the nation as a secular state.

Eschewing that, the government has seized or sabotaged every opportunity possible to push the Malay agenda envelope, stressing repeatedly commitment towards promoting Malaysia as an Islamist country.

Be it the annually held brash Umno general assemblies where the obsession is simply one – that of catapulting Malay supremacy regardless of its ramifications on the nation’s diversity to going back on the word to repeal the draconian Sedition Act 1948 which had to do with upholding Islam’s sanctity, Umno leaders have not shied away from their agenda of downplaying Malaysia’s much cherished diversity.

Was the leaders’ callous act in creating a racial chasm not one that disturbed public order and prejudicial with race and religion used to divorce Malaysians?

Or does the country’s leaders enjoy immunity from gutter politics, regardless of whether their dastardly acts are harming the nation’s peace and harmony?

While these leaders saunter away unscathed and vindicated time and again albeit their seditious rants and palaver, a group of former high-ranking civil servants are “punished” for being ingenuous with their views on Islam.

Calling themselves Group of 25 or simply G25 Malaysia, these individuals have been steadfast with their thoughts and words on Malaysia’s present day ailing political narrative, much to the dismay of Putrajaya.

So when the opportunity presented itself in the form of a book authored by some of the G25 members, the federal government wasted no time in declaring the book entitled “Breaking the Silence: Voices of Moderation – Islam in a Constitutional Democracy” illegal.

The book has been outlawed under the Printing Presses and Publications (Control of Undesirable Publications) (No 12) Order 2017. While the ban was imposed on June 14, it however was only gazetted on July 27.

The Home Ministry claimed the book “is likely to be prejudicial to public order, public opinion and public interest.”

That whitewashing by the Home Ministry about the book harming the country’s order will not work. The refusal to allow Malaysians a chance to understand Islam from the perspective of G25 has only backfired as it has exposed Putrajaya’s desperation in silencing voices it deems as a threat to its Malay agenda.

G25 punished by powers that be

So the G25 has been persecuted by the powers that be for having the audacity to question unfair policies and practices by the government.

G25 spokesperson, Noor Farida Ariffin, a former diplomat, is stunned with the ban imposed on the book, published by Marshall Cavendish (Asia) Pvt Ltd.

The 276- page book, launched by G25 in a public forum in December 2015, consists of articles from 22 leading academics, lawyers and social activists who explore the impact of Islamic bureaucracy in Malaysia and its consistency with the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

“The ban is shocking. It is against the constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression,” a G25 member scoffed.

“The ban is absurd. We should challenge it in court,” he decried to Berita Daily whilst questioning the rationale of the ban.

“The ban could only be made legally to preserve public order or preserve public morality. In what way is the book against public order and public morality?”

Emeritus professor of law Shad Saleem Faruqi, who shares his thoughts in the book, was flummoxed and saddened with the fate that has befallen the written text.

“Islam is a mansion with many windows. Diversity is celebrated since the days of Prophet Muhammad. Stating that only your views are right and mine is wrong is not the way to move ahead,” he shared with Berita Daily.

But then it would not be unbeknownst to both G25 and Prof Shad that Putrajaya shares no such inclination or interest in the myriad of windows presented by Islam and nor is the central government losing sleep over its tinder acts that continue to destroy the nation’s diversity.

The legal block behooves Putrajaya’s attempt at silencing G25, by way of forcing a claustrophobic environment to disable the group from staying persistent in questioning the nation’s biased and polarised status quo.

The G25 may describe the ban as “shocking” and “absurd” but the truth is a predictable Putrajaya will go to any length possible to put a stop to G25’s attempts at helping Malaysians shun extremism, fundamentalism and radicalism.