‘More needed to safeguard religious freedom’

A diplomatic cable from 2006, leaked by WikiLeaks, plays up the concerns expressed by US diplomats on religious intolerance in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Top US diplomats here had expressed their concerns over the widening gap between the “defenders of Islam” and the “defenders of the constitution”, and had hoped for a strong leadership from the Barisan Nasional government, according to a leaked US confidential cable from 2006.

“The Malaysian government will need to exhibit stronger leadership in order to safeguard religious freedom and tolerance,” said the diplomatic cable sent to the State Department in Washington on Aug 30, 2006.

The cable also stated that the Malaysian government should also reject clearly any calls for religiously-motivated violence.

In particular, the US diplomats were concerned over the threats issued against prominent Muslim lawyer and human rights activist Malik Imtiaz for handling the apostasy case involving Lina Joy.

The diplomats noted that Malik had faced severe backlash from many Muslims for his outspoken stance on religious freedom issues, adding that the criticism had become much more pointed and personal.

They gave examples of mosques being used to defend Islam against apostasy where prominent speakers hit out at non-Muslims and Muslims who interpret Islam wrongly, including Malik.

The diplomats added that speakers who had hit out against those “ignorant on Islamic issues” included former Bar Council president Zainur Zakaria and prominent syariah lawyer Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzzaman.

“(Malik) Imtiaz told us that he believes several newly established Muslim activist groups orchestrated the death threat (against him), but he did not provide us with specific information to support his statements,” said the cable.

The confidential cable also noted that the Malaysian government was silent on the threat against Malik apart from the prime minister’s calls to stop public discussion of Islamic issues.

The confidential cable was leaked by whistleblower site WikiLeaks to the Malaysia Today blog run by Raja Petra Kamarudin who posted it today.