'Umno gov't not always acting in Islam's interests'

INTERVIEW While the government led by Umno seems to be acting in the best interests of Islam as can be seen with the case of The Herald, other past cases prove otherwise.

This scenario was pointed out by constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari, who described all that changed in 2008 when the BN and Umno lost its two-thirds majority.

“The Umno government is acting like a born-again Muslim in appealing the (KL) High Court decision on The Herald, whereas it could not care less about the right of Muslims to practise their religion,” he said.

Abdul Aziz, a former law lecturer who is now attached to Universiti Selangor, cited the Meor Atiqulrahman Ishak and two others case against the Education Ministry, where the boys were humiliated and expelled from SK Serting, Negri Sembilan in 1997 for wearing the serban.

As with the home minister’s action against The Herald, these pupils were expelled on the grounds that the district education department said they did not follow regulations “demi kepentingan dan kesejahteraan warga sekolah dan masyarakat sekitar” (in the interests and well-being of the school and community).

The boys’ father, Syed Ahmad Johari Syed Mohd, challenged the district education department’s order by way of judicial review at the Seremban High Court and won, with the court declaring the regulation as unconstitutional.

Abdul Aziz said that, strangely, the government in 2000 appealed the decision and as a result the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision.

“This decision was affirmed by the Federal Court at the expense of the students’ education just because they wear the serban,” he said.

Former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who was leading the three-member panel, ruled that the serban is not an integral part of Islam.

Not only minority but majority rights at stake

Abdul Aziz said people should see that curbs on religious freedom in Malaysia endanger the minority, and that the majority itself is not entirely safe.

Pointing to the Shiite Muslims and the adverse publicity they faced, Abdul Aziz said the problem is that sometimes the issue has not been discussed properly.

This has been made worse with certain mufti or former mufti coming up with fatwa (edicts) favouring certain interpretations.
For instance, it has been said that Muslims who question the Court of Appeal ruling on the 'Allah' case, can be deemed infidels or apostates.

“The issue like the Shiites is being dealt with in sermons during Friday prayers. (With the decision involving The Herald case) not only the minority but even the majority, including Shiite Muslims and Wahhabi, are under threat in Malaysia,” he said.

Abdul Aziz said it looks like the courts seem to favour the mainstream, whenever the ruling public order is said to be threatened.

“However, who is to determine public order and the premise of the country’s security? The court, like in most cases, has gone on like the government where the interpretation is done at face value.
"It is as if the government says it cannot be done as it is prejudicial to security. The court is unwilling to go beyond that.
“This renders the guarantees under the constitution as meaningless. If you have this provision (prejudicial to public order) to neutralise everything, there is no point of having it in the first place."
The Shiite community here has also lodged a complaint with the United Nations over alleged persecution.

Abdul Aziz said the courts do not see the potential in the prospect of protecting human rights, as with the Meor Atiqulrahman case.
'Gov't does not trust the people'
When it was pointed out that the government had come-up with the 10-point solution on April 11, 2011 to resolve the ‘Allah’ row, he questioned which promises the government has kept.
'“In the first place, I do not think the (home minister’s decision to ban) should have happened. When the government lost, they appealed.
"If there is any honour in this government in holding to its promise (on the 10-point solution), this would not have happened.

“In the first place they should not have appealed and created barriers for The Herald as it has created many other problems."
In the first part of the interview, Abdul Aziz had said that Islam in Malaysia is not under siege and that the judgment, instead of solving problems, has created a new one.

Prior to 2008, Abdul Aziz said the government did not care for such cases or matters affecting Islam.

“However, right now it seems Umno is acting very right wing like the Republicans. This shows that Umno/BN does not have a political philosophy,” he said, adding that there has been manipulation of selected freedoms.

To resolve the problem, Abdul Aziz said the key is to give wide opportunities for people to speak up.
In the end, those victorious will be those who have the knowledge, wisdom and who are well-informed and not extremists like Perkasa, he said.
While he believes in the wisdom of the people, he noted that the government does not trust the public because it thinks "we are not rational enough".

“The Malays have opened up after seeing the United Arab Emirates editorial. Many did not see this previously. I am inclined to say Malays now are open-minded,” he said.