Umno exploiting Islam for power
RGXXXPublished: Dec 21, 2004 4:19 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
It is now fashionable for some Umno leaders to preach religious freedom in an attempt to cover up the many secret and not-so-secret records of state-sponsored religious persecution by Umno's Sunni elite. The world and international community must not be deceived and deluded by the diplomatic and marketing sweet-talk of the English-speaking Umno leaders.
One clear example of state-sponsored religious persecution is that of Yeshua Jamaluddin @ Jamaluddin Othman, a Malay Christian preacher who was detained without trial in 1987.Yeshua was severely tortured by police Special Branch interrogators.
The scandal has long been exposed and recorded by respectable human rights organisations in Malaysia, such as Suaram
Perhaps the most scandalous fallacy perpetuated by the Umno regime and its propaganda system is that the cause of the Palestinians is entirely Sunni-Islamic. The fact of the matter is that there are Christians, (like Edward Said), secular liberals and socialists as well as Westernised nationalists among the Palestinians.
Even among Muslims, there is state-sponsor harassment against those who subscribe to the Shiite, Sufi and other schools of Islamic theology. What is wrong with, for example, the Shiite schools of Islamic theology as long as its followers subscribe and practice their faith peacefully?
After all, the Shiite school of Islamic theology is the official doctrine of the state of Iran where there is a Shiite majority in the population. The Shiites are also the majority in Iraq and they will form the dominant group in the government after their democratic elections next January.
Is Umno's Sunni elite going to sever Malaysia's diplomatic relations with Iran besides not recognise a democratically-elected Shiite government in the new Iraq? If the Sunni-Umno regime continues to condemn Shiites at home while befriending Shiites in Iran and Iraq, isn't this double-standard, hypocrisy and opportunism at its best?
In the political arena, Umno's Sunni establishment also attempts to marginalise and oppress fellow Sunnis in PAS and Keadilan through media control and draconian laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The lack of religious freedom in Malaysia is not only confined to the issue of apostasy but also extends to intra-ummah freedom of conscience.
Umno's Sunni elites are just exploiting the name of Islam to preserve their own power, perks and privileges at the expense of the democratic freedoms of Shiite Muslims and others who oppose them politically.
One clear example of state-sponsored religious persecution is that of Yeshua Jamaluddin @ Jamaluddin Othman, a Malay Christian preacher who was detained without trial in 1987.Yeshua was severely tortured by police Special Branch interrogators.
The scandal has long been exposed and recorded by respectable human rights organisations in Malaysia, such as Suaram
Perhaps the most scandalous fallacy perpetuated by the Umno regime and its propaganda system is that the cause of the Palestinians is entirely Sunni-Islamic. The fact of the matter is that there are Christians, (like Edward Said), secular liberals and socialists as well as Westernised nationalists among the Palestinians.
Even among Muslims, there is state-sponsor harassment against those who subscribe to the Shiite, Sufi and other schools of Islamic theology. What is wrong with, for example, the Shiite schools of Islamic theology as long as its followers subscribe and practice their faith peacefully?
After all, the Shiite school of Islamic theology is the official doctrine of the state of Iran where there is a Shiite majority in the population. The Shiites are also the majority in Iraq and they will form the dominant group in the government after their democratic elections next January.
Is Umno's Sunni elite going to sever Malaysia's diplomatic relations with Iran besides not recognise a democratically-elected Shiite government in the new Iraq? If the Sunni-Umno regime continues to condemn Shiites at home while befriending Shiites in Iran and Iraq, isn't this double-standard, hypocrisy and opportunism at its best?
In the political arena, Umno's Sunni establishment also attempts to marginalise and oppress fellow Sunnis in PAS and Keadilan through media control and draconian laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The lack of religious freedom in Malaysia is not only confined to the issue of apostasy but also extends to intra-ummah freedom of conscience.
Umno's Sunni elites are just exploiting the name of Islam to preserve their own power, perks and privileges at the expense of the democratic freedoms of Shiite Muslims and others who oppose them politically.
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