Let’s talk, says Anwar as he again offers to meet with Barisan over racial and religious issues

Anwar has urged Barisan Nasional to work together with Pakatan Rakyat to ease the racial and religious tension in the country. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, January 26, 2014.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has once again reiterated his call for a dialogue with Barisan Nasional to address raging racial and religious issues, three days after making the same overture to the ruling coalition.

The opposition leader is moved to extend the olive branch again after many Malaysians expressed concern over increased tension in the country resulting from several racial and religious issues lately.

In calling for a national consensus, the former finance minister said leaders from both sides of the political divide must put aside all partisan concerns and show real leadership in easing the tension and working towards ameliorating the situation.

"Indeed, the time has come for us to reach a national consensus on these crucial issues that impact the sub-stratum of our identity as a nation.

"I call on you, my fellow Malaysians to rise and let your voices be heard. Let your voice of mutual respect and goodwill, your voice of understanding and trust, and your voice of unity and integration prevail over these voices of hatred, rancour, hostility and destruction," he said in his special address to all Malaysians in Petaling Jaya today.

In describing his address as a message "conceived in love for the nation and not in hate against anyone", Anwar lamented that the situation is no longer "tenable" as in the last few months, a series of circumstances and developments are fast eroding the cohesiveness that is crucial to the Malaysian identity.

"We must turn the corner from the path of increasing polarisation to the path of greater integration. We must stop the race baiting, put an end to this disease of incitement to religious intolerance and hatred, and join our hands in unity and togetherness," he said.

He said it is morally incumbent on leaders, to go beyond partisan lines and come to a national consensus - which can also include issues like the country's economy, corruption and rising cost of living - on how to move the nation forward.

In the run-up to 2014, tensions flared again over the use of the Arabic word Allah by non-Muslims, with Muslim groups insisting the word is exclusive to Islam.

It culminated in the Selangor Islamic Religious Department’s (Jais) raid of the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) office in Petaling Jaya on January 2, and seizure of more than 300 copies of Bibles in Malay and Iban language. Two BSM officials were detained and their statements recorded.

Although international Islamic scholars have clarified that the term is not exclusive to Islam, state Islamic authorities in Malaysia have reacted negatively to reports of churches using the word Allah in services and literature catering to the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian community.

However, critics have claimed that the entire controversy was an attempt to deflect attention from the country’s economic problems such as the rising cost of living due to price hikes and subsidy cuts. – January 26, 2014.