By Baru Bian, Sarawak PKR chief
Sarawakians (and I am sure many
Malaysians) are completely fed-up with the inane statements emanating from the
mouths of tragically vacuous politicians and officials in Peninsula Malaysia
that greet us each day.
Within the space of one week, the
bigoted Selangor Islamic religious authorities announce their desire to dispose
of our illegally seized Bibles, a half-baked ‘academic’ convert berates
Christians for building a big church, and an uninformed Minister gives us the
unpleasant news that Malaysia is an Islamic state.
Picture: Baru (centre) says he is fed-up with inane statements from Malayan politicians and religious bigots
There have been some excellent rebuttals
to the Islamic state claim, including an editorial in The Malaysian Insider and
it is unnecessary to repeat what has been said.
It is necessary, however, to point out
to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Religious
Affairs that while he was picking out various provisions in the Federal
Constitution to support his claim of an Islamic state, he carelessly overlooked
Article 4 which declares “This Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation…”.
This point alone should be enough to
erase any doubts in any confused person’s mind. Article 4 does not state that
the Syariah is the supreme law of the Federation.
The three branches of government, that
is, the legislative, executive and judiciary are subject to the Constitution
and not the Syariah. The rights of the citizens are derived from the
Constitution and not the Syariah.
In their oaths of office, the Prime
Minister and all members of Parliament, and the members of the Judiciary pledge
to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution, and not the Syariah.
The supremacy of the Constitution puts
paid to any notion of Malaysia being an Islamic state.
In addition, the Rukunegara, which
states the fundamental principles of governance directed towards the creation
of a just and democratic society, declares these tenets: ‘Upholding the
Constitution’ and ‘Rule of Law’.
It does not state ‘Upholding the
Syariah’ or ‘Rule of Syariah’.
If the Malayan political, social and
religious landscape in 1961 had been what it is currently in Peninsula
Malaysia, I have no doubt that Sarawakians would never have agreed to be part
of the Federation.
The Malaysia Agreement would not have
seen the light of day as Sarawakians would never have agreed to become partners
with a country where arrogant racists and religious bigots are allowed to spout
their unsavoury propaganda while an emasculated leadership cowers in the
corner.
Even as it was at that time, during the talks
leading to the formation of Malaysia, the non-Muslim communities of Sarawak had
voiced their reservations about Islam being the religion of the Federation.
It was finally agreed that ‘While there
was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia there should
be no State religion in Sarawak, and the provisions relating to Islam in the
present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to Sarawak’.
The absence of a state religion was key
to Sarawak’s agreement to join in the formation Malaysia in 1963, due to the
wisdom of our forefathers.
Can Jamil Khir Baharom tell us what the
position of Sarawak is, in this imaginary Islamic state of his? Please do not
tell us now that we are part of an Islamic state; Sarawakians will not accept
the unilateral changing of the contractual terms by one party.
There is enough evidence in our
historical documents and legal judgments to establish that Sarawak had signed
the Malaysia Agreement with a secular state.
The founding father, BAPA MALAYSIA
Tuanku Abdul Rahman stated it plainly in Parliament: ‘I would like to make it
clear that this country is not an Islamic State as it is generally understood,
we merely provided that Islam shall be the official religion of the State’
[Hansard, 1 May 1958].
How much clearer can it be that the
INTENTION was the establishment of a secular state? Are the rabble rousing
Islamic country champions going to tell us that Bapa Malaysia was confused?
It is truly deplorable that the UMNO
politicians are twisting facts to mislead the people for their political gain.
It does not matter a hoot to them that they are riding roughshod over the
rights of the non-Muslims and creating unhappiness and tensions in the
community.
Perhaps they are banking on Vladimir
Lenin’s mantra "A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth",
to make their fantasies come true.
The Prime Minister must make a stand to
correct the wrong that has been done, otherwise he will be promoting bigotry
and allowing extremists to be even bolder in their outrageous claims.
We want these misguided rabid UMNO
players in West Malaysia to desist from trying to shove their agenda down our
throats.
If Malaysia is indeed held to be an Islamic
state, I will propose to the Sarawak government that our case be brought to an
international forum for adjudication based on misrepresentation and fraud.
For now, I ask that the parliamentarians
from Sarawak and Sabah take a stand on this and be heard in and out of
Parliament. Our Constitution and secularity must be safeguarded for the sake of
our future generations.-June 18, 2014
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