Can Chidambaram Rescue India's Battered Economy?

Chidambaram demands a free hand

(Asia Sentinel) High inflation, deficient monsoon, political infighting all get in the way for new finance minister
Faltering growth, fleeing foreign investors and the specter of global credit ratings agencies downgrading the Indian economy to junk status from the current lowest investment grade, are finally forcing the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to attempt to put its fiscal house in order.

Growth, which slumped to a nine-year low of 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012, was crippled further by a deficient monsoon that has whittled down agricultural output and sent food prices soaring. Persistently high inflation - 7.25 percent in June - prompted the central bank to hike interest rates to rein in prices. Meanwhile, international credit ratings agencies including Fitch and Moody's Analytics have forecast sub-6 percent growth for India in the fiscal year to end March 2013, the worst in a decade.

The uninspiring economic performance is having a corrosive political effect. An India Today-Nielsen opinion poll last week said that were an election to be held today, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance would be bested by the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Alliance.

“The government’s skewed tax policies, a debilitating policy paralysis coupled with political volatility have taken the sheen off the India growth story,” said economist and Professor K.N. Dixit of Benares Hindu University. “Not too long ago, the country was spoken of in the same breath as China. But now that global awe has vaporized.”

That the worries over a battered economy are weighing on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mind was clear as he delivered the 65th Independence Day address on August 15 in New Delhi. The premier, the architect of India’s transformational globalization drive in the 1990’s that saw annual GDP growth touch 9 percent, dwelt on the country’s hostile political climate, which has not only soured the India growth story but also affected national security.

"If we do not increase the pace of the country's economic growth,” said Singh in his speech, “take steps to encourage new investment in the economy, improve the management of government finances and work for the livelihood security of the common man and energy security of the country, then it most certainly affects our national security."

Consistently high food inflation, corruption and policy paralysis have eroded the electorate’s confidence in the ruling political establishment. Middle-class angst has resulted in widespread support for mass agitations led by yoga guru Swami Ramdev and activist Anna Hazare.

A beleaguered Singh has been under mounting pressure to reconstitute his cabinet ahead of the 2014 general elections. His inclusion of Palaniappan Chidambaram, 67, as finance minister (after the post was vacated by Pranab Mukherjee who is now president) was part of a larger UPA game plan to help India get back on its high-growth trajectory.

A Harvard Business School alumnus, Chidambaram is known for taking bold decisions. His stint as finance minister during 2004-2008 steered India through the turbulent waters of the global financial meltdown.

Can the finance minister replicate his earlier feat? There’s no doubt that the task is a daunting one given India’s vastly altered eco-political dynamic since 2004. However, there are favorable auguries. Soon after taking over, the minister put out a statement to assuage global and domestic investors and restore their confidence. The markets also cheered his takeover with the Sensex surging and the rupee strengthening marginally against the dollar.

Chidambaram has moved expeditiously, sending out an unambiguous signal that he means business. He has fleshed out a detailed roadmap to augment the country’s investment climate and fiscal consolidation with 'honesty' and 'credibility' as its cornerstones.

The minister knows that the key to restart the growth engine is to build a more conducive investment climate, thereby attracting more capital from domestic and foreign investors. The aim, he says, “is to remove the perceived difficulties in doing business in India, including fears about undue regulatory burden or regulatory over-reach.”

The broad aim, financial analysts say, is to allay fears about the country’s economic health and assure disenchanted investors that the India growth story is still very much alive. Chidambaram has repeated that his focus will be on addressing policy deficits in four vital areas— investor confidence, inflation, widening fiscal deficit and a yawning current account deficit.

Rejuvenating key sectors such as roads, power and energy, speeding up disinvestment and resuscitating the capital markets and moderating inflation in the medium term are also a part of the minister’s strategy.

Analysts predict that while the new minister will need some time to settle in (he was until recently home minister), at least the immediate impact of an improved global perception about the Indian government’s nonchalance will be corrected.

“Chidambaram understands the larger architecture of international financial regimes and regulators. He balances old-school wisdom with an understanding of modern business and regulators,” says a finance ministry source.

But more importantly, the minister’s thinking is in consonance with his boss. “We think alike. We are on the same wavelength,” Singh recently said about Chidambaram. The duo’s convergence of ideas and thoughts will probably will certainly facilitate decision-making and help in the everyday conduct of business considering that Mukherjee who rarely saw eye-to-eye with Singh on several important economic issues.

For instance, the contentious retrospective tax on foreign companies that acquired assets in India and the General Anti-Avoidance Rules that empower tax department officials to probe past corporate deals, were cleared by Mukherjee over Singh’s reservations.

Chidambaram has acknowledged there are problems. “Price stability is an important objective. There has been pressure on prices, and inflation, especially food inflation, is high. The causes are well known…some are beyond our control, such as prices of crude oil and imported commodities, but some others can be addressed by determined action. We will take steps to remove the constraints on the supply side,” he said in his first press conference after taking over July 31.

However, there is hope that with his past record as finance minister, Chidambaram may well be the lift that a depressed Indian economy is looking for. Before taking on his current responsibility, the minister clearly told the prime minister that he would accept his new post only if he is empowered to take tough decisions. Whether or not the minister’s `tough decisions’ will translate into tangible gains for the Indian economy is something that still remains to be seen.

(Neeta Lal is a New Delhi-based journalist. She can be reached at neetalal@hotmail.com)

ABU’s message to our peacekeepers goes to Melaka

Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia is a key component in ABU.
The Melaka chapter have been busy over this Raya weekend.
Click on the image below to find out what they have been up to.

Kit Siang and May 13

By Ahmad Mustapha Hassan | August 21, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

AUG 21 — Allow me to explain about the above controversy.

I was there on that fateful day as an executive member of Umno Youth. The gathering was organised by Selangor Umno Youth whose leader was Harun Idris and the secretary then was Ahmad Razali Ali.

The whole area was dominated by Umno Youth members and no non-Malay could ever enter the place. That being the case, it was impossible for Lim Kit Siang to be there and did what he was purportedly accused of. If he did, he would have been killed by the mob.

In fact the first killing that I witnessed was outside the gate, on the road. A young coffeeshop boy, about 13 or 14 in age, was slaughtered by the mob and his body kicked into the drain running by the road. He was an innocent boy trying to earn some pocket money.

I mentioned the May 13 incident in my book “The Unmaking of Malaysia”.

Najib Advises Students Abroad To Contribute Towards Malaysia's Success

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak advised Malaysian students abroad to study hard and manage themselves well in order to contribute towards the nation's success.

"My fellow students abroad, you are the country's junior ambassadors. Study hard and manage yourselves well to help your country succeed," he tweeted at about 10.30 pm Tuesday.

Last Sunday, during a simultaneous video conference with students and embassies in five countries, at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya, Najib advised Malaysian students abroad to study hard in order to help the country succeed.

He said that as junior ambassadors, Malaysians, especially students and officers at embassies, must portray the nation's success and uniqueness abroad.

The 45-minute conference was held in conjunction with Aidilfitri and covered Jakarta (Indonesia), Canberra (Australia), London (the United Kingdom), Beijing (China) and Tokyo (Japan).

Heavy Rain Causes Flash Floods In Some KL Areas

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Heavy rain Tuesday caused flash floods in several areas in the city, among them Segambut and Sentul, and fire and rescue personnel went to the aid of four people trapped in the floodwaters.

A physically challenged man, a baby boy and his mother, and a pregnant woman were rescued, said a spokesman of the Kuala Lumpur Fire & Rescue Department.

He said the department's personnel responded to the calls for help between 4.04 pm and 5.27 pm.

The physically challenged man was rescued in the vicinity of the Al-Ubudiah Mosque in Segambut Dalam, he said, adding that as the fire and rescue personnel got to him, his family members had also come to save him.

The spokesman said the baby boy and his mother were rescued at their home near the Keretapi Tanah Melayu station in Segambut while the pregnant woman was evacuated from her home in Taman Kolam Air Panas, Sentul.

The spokesman said about 50 fire and rescue personnel from five fire stations were deployed for rescue operations up to 6.10 pm.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Meteorological Department said the rain started at about 1 pm and lasted until 5 pm.

DoT blocks HJS Website in India - Anti-Hindu step taken by Indian Govt. !

Adhik Bhadrapad Shukla 3, Kaliyug Varsha 5114

Because they cannot ban Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Jnanjagruti Samiti (HJS), the rulers are putting a ban on the propagation of the mission of these organisations ! The rulers who have imposed a ban on the websites of the Samiti today, will not hesitate to impose a ban on 'Sanatan Prabhat' as well as Sanatan Sanstha and HJS, tomorrow.

Mumbai : According to an order from the Union Government, 250 websites that spread provocative news about the riots in Assam have been banned. Since yesterday, whenever readers throughout Bharat tried to visit http://www.hindujagruti.org, they were getting the message ‘As per the instructions from the Telecommunication department, this website has been blocked’. As a result they could not visit the website. If the readers have experienced this, please let us know the name of the city, State, date etc. Samiti is consulting legal experts on this issue.
Samiti's page on the social networking website Facebook also blocked !
After this decision, from the night of 19.8.2012 Samiti's page ‘http://www.facebook.com/Hindujagruti’ on social networking website Facebook has also been blocked. Presently this page is not accessible all over Bharat; however, it is accessible abroad.

After the order was passed, it has been noticed that the page ‘http://www.facebook.com/Hindujagruti’ belonging to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) on the social networking website Facebook has been blocked. Presently this page is not visible anywhere in Bharat; however, it visible outside Bharat.

On the website of HJS as well as the page on Facebook, articles that depicted the truth underlying the riots in Assam and Mumbai were placed. There was no provocative matter in these articles. Because of these articles, Hindus around the world were getting to know the truth about these issues. Hence, the possibility of the Union Government as part of its Muslim appeasement policy, banning this page that vents the atrocities faced by the Hindus, cannot be denied.

Until such time as the ban on Samiti’s page on Facebook is lifted, the readers are requested to visit the new page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/HinduAdhiveshan.

If the visitors of the website want any guidance about the course of action to be taken pertaining to Nation and Dharma, they may please contact the local activists of the Samiti.

Umno Youth denies provocative religious Facebook post, to file police report

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin will lodge a police report today over a controversial posting on a Facebook page purportedly owned by the political wing that has sparked a public uproar over its provocative religious message in the run-up to national polls.

The Rembau MP took to Twitter to distance the wing from the controversy after it was reported by The Malaysian Insider yesterday, the start of the Muslim holiday Aidilfitri.

“Yes, not our FB page,” he said in a reply to a follower on his Twitter account ‏@Khairykj.

“Update: We have narrowed down the admin of the unsanctioned Pemuda UMNO FB page w/ offensive post. We will lodge a police report tomorrow,” Khairy (picture) added.

He did not disclose the identity of the administrator or any further information.

Lokman Noor Adam, an Umno Youth executive council member, also denied knowledge of the controversial posting or that the wing had a Facebook page.

“Pemuda Umno does not have a FB page. We only have an official website,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted today, referring to the popular social network by its initials.

“This is the first time I am hearing such a thing,” he said, adding that he was unaware of any picture being uploaded on the Facebook account bearing the Malay party’s name and logo.

Lokman also said that he had not been told of any police complaint being filed over the provocative posting and attempted to play down the controversy.

“I don’t think anyone cares about the picture and what it says,” he said.

The controversial posting was first posted on the eve of Aidilfitri, and had read: “Jika anda setuju untuk jadikan KRISTIAN sebagai agama rasmi persekutuan Malaysia, teruskan sokongan anda kepada Pakatan Rakyat. (If you agree to make CHRISTIANITY the official religion of the federation of Malaysia, continue supporting Pakatan Rakyat.) ‘God bless you my son’.”

The Facebook post appeared to suggest that a vote for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will catapult Christianity into Islam’s unquestioned position as Malaysia’s religion, showing that faith is still being used to scare off the crucial Malay-Muslim vote in the run-up to national polls.

The picture is a reminder of Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, which last year placed on its front page an unsubstantiated report suggesting that the DAP was conspiring with the Church to install a Christian as prime minister and create a Christian Malaysian state.

It triggered an uproar on the popular social network with some cyber citizens, supporting the statement and others condemning Umno Youth for attempting to fan emotions and religious sentiments between Christians and Muslims on the eve of Aidilfitri, one of the biggest holidays in multicultural Malaysia’s calendar.

PR opposition leaders have also slammed Umno Youth for the incendiary message and demanded that party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak take action to rein in the wing.

The provocative posting was taken down about 6.30pm last Saturday, after drawing nearly 300 comments on the Facebook page.

PSC recruits 21 grads but no Indians

The Public Services Commission (PSC) has riled MIC president G Palanivel with their latest recruitment list.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president G. Palanivel today expressed disappointment over the Public Services Commission’s (PSC) recruitment statement of 21 graduates with first class honours, as no top Indian students were recruited.

In a statement here today, he said there were Indian graduates with First Class honours and Second Class upper degrees, some from government universities, but they were rejected for some reason.

Yesterday, PSC chairman Mahmood Adam announced that the PSC was going straight to local and foreign universities to look for top talent under a new meritocracy-based and fast-track recruitment system.

Through the system, the PSC offered 18 bumiputra students and three Chinese engineering graduates jobs and directed them to report for duty at the Works Ministry.

Palanivel, who also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said he had brought up the matter many times to the attention of the government and also to the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak at the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting recently.

He added that he had already submitted the rejected list of Indian candidates to the Prime Minister as requested.

“Competing and offering jobs before the private sector does, is a step in the right direction and this is a very proactive and good move but I want PSC to also pay particular attention to Indian students who have done well.

“It does not matter if they had missed out on First Class honours but if they have obtained a good second class upper degree, it should be good enough to warrant PSC’s attention,” he said.

-Bernama

Harder to show proof under hudud

The current criminal law is better because it is easier to prove a case beyond reasonable doubt, says DAP's Karpal Singh.

GEORGE TOWN: Potential criminals will not fear the Islamic hudud law because its burden of proof was harder than current criminal law in the country, DAP chairman Karpal Singhs said today.

Hence, he said hudud law could not serve public interests well because if it was applied, virtually no one could be convicted of crime.

Under hudud, it would be practically impossible to prove a case against an accused without a shadow of doubt.
Comparatively, he suggested that it could be easier to prove a case beyond reasonable doubt under the current criminal law.

For instance, he said the requirement that there must be four witnesses to prove a rape case under hudud would make it impossible to convict a person.

Thus, it would not be able to deter crime and criminals, he said.

“Under hudud, you have to prove a case beyond a shadow of doubt… practically 100%, unlike the present criminal law, which is beyond reasonable doubt.

“Criminals and potential criminals will not fear hudud because they know it will be difficult to prove the charge against them. Hudud law cannot be a deterrent,” he said.

He also said he was never “anti-Islam” because as a MP, he had accepted the Federal Constitution that stipulated the status of Islam as the official religion of the country.

He said he was only opposing the implementation of an Islamic state and hudud law because it was unconstitutional.

Karpal has said that he would sue Bachok MP Nasharuddin Mat Isa for labelling him as “anti-Islam”.

He said he was also ready to face any counter suit to be brought by Nasharuddin. “I am prepared to face him in any court, anywhere,” he said.

The partisan nature of BN-Pakatan conflict

By S Thayaparan,

"Politicians and diapers should be changed frequently, and for the same reason." - Eça de Queirós

COMMENT Well, it seems blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) is in the news again. I have no idea how the "he said, he said" game between private eye P Balasubramaniam and him is newsworthy, except that it proves my point that online journalism has that unmistakable tinge of yellow in it.

I still can't help but be amazed at the vitriol spewed RPK's way by the former faithful. I've written about RPK before and have no interest in pointing out the hypocrisy of his former evangelical admirers or the nature of his shit-stirring posts.

When he is not feeding a certain section of the wired Malaysian public with his salacious but entertaining concoctions of the seedy underbelly of the powers-that-be, which now include Pakatan Rakyat, he's digging around in the racial muck beneath the muhibbah spirit, slaying sacred cows of the Chinese and Indians (well, mostly Chinese) much as he did in his glory days with the Malays with blog posts such as 'The art of silat' and 'On that sahabat karib thing again'.

Then there is something like 'It is not about government, it is about us', which is another in a long line of attempts to repudiate his extremely partisan former position and place himself firmly in the centre of the Malaysian body politic.

Educated readers would have always viewed what RPK said in his messiah days with a healthy dose of skepticism and I believe it is they who still regularly visit his blog and form the majority of his readers, now that he has managed to piss off both sides of the political divide.

Near religious showdown

So although I have no interest in his feud with Balasubramaniam, I did find his blog post 'An adversary impossible to beat' meandering but ultimately interesting if flawed. No doubt for most Pakatan supporters whatever he writes (now) is verboten by their alliance groupthink, but I think he raises some interesting points about the nature of the BN-Pakatan conflict although he misses far too many along the way.

The central thesis of his argument is that the Najib Razak regime's primary adversaries are the faith and belief that Pakatan has managed to harness for their political benefit.
He characterises the extremely partisan nature of this conflict as a near religious showdown between those who have faith that their belief in Pakatan would result in changes for the better (even though they have no real evidence of this) if Pakatan ever came into federal power and those who wish to maintain the status quo, believing the devil you know is better than the one you don't.

In his 'It is not about government, it is about us' post, he articulates certain contradictions of the lack of ‘idealism' (which ironically is the main propaganda tool of the Pakatan machine) with regards to certain fundamental issues and policies in Pakatan supporters and their realpolitik belief that the only way for ‘change' is kicking out BN and then working out a basic framework with the belief that any problems would be handled by Pakatan in an egalitarian manner.

In other words, they (Pakatan supporters) don't want to put in the effort for fighting for collective principles or policies which differentiate them from BN, all the while coasting on the corruption scandals that feed the need for ‘change'. Any attempt to point this out is perceived as either the Machiavellian workings of pro-BN trolls or contrarian opinions that hamper the progress to Putrajaya.

While I do believe that faith and belief are adversaries of the Najib regime, I believe they are secondary in nature. I think the primary adversary is hate. There is a certain section, perhaps a sizeable section of the voting public who hates BN and has no real interest in questioning the ideological foundations or lack thereof of their preferred political alliance, except as a vehicle to replace BN on the Putrajaya throne.

Ironically it is RPK that brought to boil this hate with his shit-stirring posts in his messianic heyday. By slaying Malay sacred cows and exposing in the most polemical of manner the malfeasances of BN and positioning Pakatan as the white knight that would banish the BN evil from the land, he set up the playing board that he finds so frustrating now.

As Helen Ang (left), the bête noire of most DAP supporters, points out in her various contrarian posts (which is a good thing), Pakatan supporters have no problem pointing out the ‘hate' spewing forth from BN, but have no qualms about engaging in hate of their own.

Indeed cruise the comments section of Malaysiakini and you would be surprised (or maybe you won't be) of the hateful speech which passes most often without notice since it's either directed at BN or at ideas that don't sit comfortably with Pakatan supporters.

Her 'Haram sokong DAP not mirror image of ABU, meh?' and 'Kafir rating downgraded' posts are in my opinion problematic (seeing as how I am partisan in nature) but nonetheless illuminating on the hypocritical nature of oppositional politics but also for old timers like me with more than a passing familiarity with opposition parties before their revamped image, extremely perceptive.

Seething resentment

Before there was ‘PAS for all', I used to hang out with the "bad old" PAS boys who had no problem calling for the fall of the "maha firaun" and his despicable silencing of opponents using the ISA and his regime's systemic corruption, but had no problem imposing Islam regardless of the objections of the non-Muslims.

These same loyal (sic) Muslims are part of the ‘new' PAS, alternating between seething resentment at being accused of being pro-BN lackeys if they voice their consent for hudud or any other Islamic preoccupations and rabid obsession of ejecting Umno by any means necessary even if it means having an undeclared ceasefire with the heathens until the time is ripe for a religious revival.

Ang's Pakatan baiting 'Logo Hari Merdeka Pakatan ada elemen-elemen Kristian' post was a much needed master class in Internet trolling if only because it brought out the vicious undercurrents of Pakatan (DAP specifically) hate mongers who view any Chinese not supportive of the aims of DAP (or Pakatan) as self-loathing cretins - the usual murder fantasies were spewed her way - and the popular canard that only non-Umno Malay/Muslims were acceptable in this new Malaysia.

Indeed any Malay ‘intellectual' who engages in public self-flagellation all the while partaking in broadsides against Umno is welcomed as an enlightened Malay but woe to the Malay who points out the fact that the so-called systemic racism goes hand in hand with the general racism that afflicts this country or makes a defence of Umno ideology, which is not far off from Pakatan's own dogma except without the decades of abuse. This last part is an important point, which would explain the ‘faith" aspect in RPK's argument.

This is why we have the "why can't they get on with the programme" attitude when it comes to status quo agitators like Hindraf. This is why these groups are demonised by the zealots secure in their multiracial/cultural camouflage but displaying no real commitment to the ideal.

Of course, there will always be those who self-righteously shout down those who draw attention to this fact as having done nothing for 55 years (how absurd), but don't seem to have a problem with the inmates running the asylum in their new found role as liberators. Frogs not only leap, they breed.

Umno, of course, has already proven that it is incompetent in these power/perception games. So long being used to locking up those who disagree with them and relying solely on their propaganda tools has left them unable to form a coherent strategy of dealing with Pakatan and the wild west frontier of the new media. "Blunder after blunder and still standing by dodgy means" should be their Merdeka Day slogan.

So, in my opinion RPK has got it somewhat wrong. I think both our arguments paint a bleak picture of the political landscape of Malaysia. Each side is peddling a different thing, playing on our sentiments. Umno is peddling fear, while Pakatan hope.

There are many who would blame Umno for this, and rightly a large portion of the blame should go to them, but this piece really isn't about Umno or BN. And this may be the reason why many would find it unpalatable.

---

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

When the Pied Pipers of hudud call

It’s democracy and social justice that the people want, not more punishment that will only victimise the marginalised of society.

Do they know or care that implementing the hudud is unconstitutional? Have they read all the contentious debates and diverse positions on the relevance of hudud in contemporary times? Have they read about the impact hudud has had on women and the poor in countries like Pakistan, Sudan, and Nigeria, while those who steal by the millions thrive, immune and protected? 

Zainah Anwar, The Star 

Oh dear, not again! It’s yet another round of debate on the hudud law. But this time, the active proponents have changed. It’s no longer PAS that’s mouthing demands for hudud!

How times have changed when the very party that has opposed the decades-long PAS effort to implement the hudud has now among its members advocates for the draconian law.

I wonder why these people have all the time in the world to manufacture controversy and consternation on something that they know cannot be implemented in this country. And the media then flames the debate by getting opinions of those who cannot but say yes to hudud.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was right. It is nothing more than politics. In 1994, the then Prime Minister wrote to the Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, that the Federal Government would oppose any effort by the Kelantan state government to impose the hudud law.

Secular stand: Tunisian women buying produce at a market in Tunis. The country’s Islamist Ennahda ruling party categorically rejected attempts to make Shari’ah the basis of law in the new Tunisian Constitution. — AFP

In the letter, Dr Mahathir also charged that PAS efforts to introduce the hudud was merely political gamesmanship in trying to win votes from the Malays whose eyes had been clouded.

It is now 2012. Not even the Islamists who have won power in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco are talking about the hudud law or even the Islamic state. It’s democracy and social justice that the people want, not more punishment that will only victimise the marginalised of society. It is a civil democratic state that the new leaders are promising, not an Islamic state.

And here we are in Malaysia, supposedly the model Muslim country leading a so-called global movement of moderates, but we remain mired in a mistaken belief that the hallmark of an Islamic administration is the imposition of hudud law on all the citizens.

Are we to laugh or cry when the Umno state assemblyman from Kemelah in Johor proudly proclaimed that the Umno hudud would be superior to the PAS hudud?

It reminds me of the time when the Perlis State Assembly passed the Islamic Aqidah (Faith) Protection Enactment in 2000. The three PAS assemblymen denounced the Enactment, not because it violated fundamental rights, but because it was not Islamic enough! And what would make the Enactment Islamic? Death to apostates. The one-year detention without trial in a faith rehabilitation centre as prescribed by the law was child’s play, they deemed.

Why do politicians say the darnedest things? As it goes with anything to do with religion, there will be the inevitable pied pipers who must follow suit to prove their piety, or so they think.

I wish hudud supporters would do some basic research before they reinforce further fears and prejudices of Islam as an unjust and violent religion.

Do they know or care that implementing the hudud is unconstitutional? Have they read all the contentious debates and diverse positions on the relevance of hudud in contemporary times? Have they read about the impact hudud has had on women and the poor in countries like Pakistan, Sudan, and Nigeria, while those who steal by the millions thrive, immune and protected?

And now Dr Hasan Ali, the ousted Selangor PAS leader, is stoking the debate by trying to portray the coming elections as a choice between those who want the hudud and the Islamic state and those against.
Since when has the imposition of hudud been the most important issue of concern for Malaysian voters? Poll after poll has shown Malaysians are most concerned about crime and public safety, corruption, rising cost of living, political instability, and deteriorating race relations.

And yet we have key political players, whipped up by a segment of the media, manufacturing a debate on an issue that is bound to divide us even further. And dumbing down the Malays into thinking that we could not possibly be good Muslims without the hudud. I am sure the millions of good Muslims living in the West are offended by this.

These blinkered Islamists should start looking at Tunisia and the making of a democratic state in the Arab world. The Islamist Ennahda ruling party, against demands and demonstrations by the hard-line Salafists, categorically rejected attempts to make Shari’ah the basis of law in the new Tunisian Constitution.

Not only that, its chief ideologue, Rached Ghannouchi, announced that the party “will not use law to impose religion” nor “introduce ambiguous definitions into the Constitution that risk dividing the people”. While maintaining the Arab-Muslim identity of Tunisia, he is publicly committed to the state being secular and democratic, with respect for human rights and women’s rights.

This strong and unambiguous public position of an Islamist party in the face of vocal hard-line opposition is a source of hope to many Islamists who today fashion themselves as “Muslim democrats”, eschewing their past fixation on the ideological hudud and Islamic state.

While the world media remains focused on Syria and Egypt, it is developments in Tunisia that should be watched for what could be a genuine transition to democracy led by an Islamist party. If we choose to remain under the proverbial coconut shell, we might just be left behind by the genuine moderates of the Muslim world.

It’s really no use crying over Malay unity and national unity, when political leaders continuously sow seeds of discord, whipping up race and religion to score points with their own constituencies, instead of building consensus on contentious issues.

Let me state that the choice before us is not between Islam and secularism, not between hudud law and civil law, not between tradition and modernity. These are false dichotomies created to divide us. The choice before us is between democracy and despotism, between good governance and corruption, between equality and discrimination, between social justice and inequity.

Can the brave and principled political leaders that we so desperately need stand up and say something?

Be More Open-Minded, PAS Urged

MUAR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- PAS top leadership has been urged to be more open-minded when confronting problems in the interest of Muslims in the country and abroad.

Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said that if non-Malays could discuss common issues, he wondered why PAS and Umno could not do likewise.

"Why PAS and Umno cannot be sit down and discuss issues affecting Muslims. Are we so bad to PAS. For example, what's wrong if we sit down and issue a joint statement on Palestine," he told reporters at the breaking of fast at the Mile 18 Jamek Mosque, Air Hitam here yesterday.

Ahmad was commenting on criticisms levelled against former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa after photos of him with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Mecca were plastered in local papers on Aug 15.

Najib was said to have invited Nasharudin to become his translator during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Extraordinary Summit in Mecca.

"Ustaz Nasha was there to assist the prime minister during his meeting with leading Islamic scholars in Mecca to discuss Muslim well-being and the fate of oppressed Rohingya Muslims," said Ahmad, adding it was unbecoming of PAS leaders to speculate that Nasharudin would be joining Umno due to the picture.

No dignity in life or death

This is the fate of the marginalised Indians of the country.

By N Ganesan

Early in the morning of Aug 14, M Nagamah, 64, of Byram Estate, Pulau Pinang passed away. Her remains were brought home from the Sungai Bakap Hospital. According to the family, she lived a life as a Hindu and she died a Hindu. They prepared to give her a Hindu funeral.

The Penang Islamic Religious Affairs Department officials, however thought differently. They claimed she was a Muslim, came to her house and demanded that the family surrender her body to them for a Muslim burial.

The family refused and went ahead with their plans for a Hindu funeral and the cremation of Nagamah, as department officials had no documentary evidence for the claim she was a Muslim on hand at that time.

The cremation was done by the family according to Hindu rites at the Batu Berapit Crematorium near their home and the family returned home as the cremation was proceeding. The religious department officials then went over to the crematorium and, family is unsure as to what transpired at the crematorium subsequently, but they took away the cremated remains of Nagamah, clearly without the consent of the family and without authority of a civil court – the courts which protect the rights and interests governing non-Muslims in the country.

The family is not sure if the department had any other valid authorisation.

Here is again another clear episode of usurpation of the minority rights of freedom of practice of their religion. The eldest son M Kamasantheran who is a Hindu born of a first marriage of Nagamah is now not in a position to fulfill his religious obligations required of all Hindus – the last rites with the cremated remains at a “Karumakirei” ceremony held 14 days after the death and after which her ashes are to be strewn into a nearby river so that her “Atma” may attain “Shanti”.

This is one of the major religious rites in the life of a Hindu and he has been denied that by the usurpation of his rights . This is clearly a state sanctioned act as the family understands the police accompanied the Islamic department officers at the crematorium at the time the cremated remains were demanded.

The key question here is, by what authority did the department claim for the body, superior to the claim by Kamasantheran that he has his final rites religious obligations? By what superior law or authority can the department order the crematorium and the family to turn over the cremated remains to them and for them to take away with the remains with the police watching over this entire episode on their side?

Department has committed a theft

The Federal Constitution is unequivocal in guaranteeing the right to practice the religion of choice of individual citizens without regards for religion – Article 11. (1) Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.”

This clearly means that Kamasantheran is guaranteed his rights to practice his religion and to perform his last rites for his mother as this is one of the most important obligations of a son to his parents in the Hindu religion. Article 8(1) on equality before the law states (1) All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law, further demands that equality be protected for all citizens.

And in the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution, the jurisdiction of the syariah court is spelled out thus “………… the constitution, organisation and procedure of syariah courts, which shall have jurisdiction only over persons professing the religion of Islam ……”

The religious department acted unilaterally and with impunity in violating all these provisions.

Hindraf demands that the department returns the cremated remains of Nagamah to the family immediately, so that they may perform their final rites as demanded in the police report lodged on Aug 19 by the son, 17 relatives and friends of Nagamah at the Nibong Tebal police station.

Or if the department feels that they do have rights over the cremated remains, they should go to the civil courts protecting the rights of non-Muslims for adjudication on the matter.

Unilateral pronouncements by the syariah court does not apply to non-Muslims and therefore to Kamasantheran.

This effectively becomes a theft by the religious department as viewed by the gurantees to the non-Muslims in the Federal Constitution.

The writer is the national advisor of Hindraf.

Save Tasik Chini or lose our votes, warn Orang Asli

The Tasik Chini indigenous community has warned Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob that if the state government does not attempt to save the second largest natural freshwater lake, it would cost the BN their votes in the coming general election.

"Even if I were in front of Adnan, I dare to say this, if he needed my help and said to me, 'Help! Tell your people not to vote other (parties)', but they (my people) did not listen to me, don't be angry with me," said Kampung Gumum Tok Batin (village chief) Awang Alok at a press conference yesterday.

Awang, who leads the Kampung Gumum Orang Asli action committee, was responding to Adnan's purported statement on Wednesday denying the existence of mining and logging activities around the lake.

He claimed that Adnan had made the statement during a programme over Asyik FM.

"We would like to stress that these (logging and mining) activities are being carried out in the territory and lands of Kampung Gumum," said Awang in a statement released during the press conference.

The action committee invited Adnan to the Orang Asli settlement to witness the activities.

The community had highlighted the logging and mining activities in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on April 10.

"The Orang Asli here can no longer enter the jungle affected by the mining activities to search for roots to produce medicines, and we have lost our source of resources such as rattan, roots and so on, due to the logging activities," read the statement.

Awang reiterated that they are not influenced by any political party as alleged by Senator Mohd Olian Abdullah, the Orang Asli representative in the Dewan Negara.

"We are not like 55 years ago when we only blindly obeyed without realising our own rights to our lands as stated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," he said.

Tasik Chini is part of Najib's parliamentary constituency of Pekan, which he won by an overwhelming majority of 26,464 votes against a PKR candidate in the last polls.

Out of 77,663 registered voters in the constituency, the five Orang Asli villages closest to Tasik Chini have some 130.

NGOs: Social Inclusion Act needed

Home minister expects low turnout at 'Janji Bersih'

Judge attacks forced marriage that put disabled woman 'at risk’

A judge has said the forced marriage of a Muslim woman with learning difficulties should be annulled and condemned the “insulated” families who arrange them.

An overcrowded train approaches station, Dhaka, Bangladesh Photo: Andrew Biraj, Bangladesh, Reuters

 

Mrs Justice Parker also criticised doctors and social workers for failing to raise the alarm when the woman was sent to Bangladesh to be married to a cousin, which allowed him to settle in England.

She said video of the wedding ceremony showed the bride was “almost comatose” and needed help to repeat vows she did not understand, while her relatives had made “false and misleading” statements about her condition.

And the judge brushed aside claims by the woman’s parents that having her marriage annulled would bring shame upon their family, in a case that was even considered at by the Government’s most senior lawyer, the Attorney General.

Mrs Justice Parker said that forcing marriage on someone who lacks mental capacity is a “gross interference” with their dignity and autonomy, particularly as it means having sex and possibly becoming pregnant without being able to consent.

Under the far-reaching powers of the Court of Protection, which can make life-or-death decisions on behalf of those deemed unable to understand them, the judge ruled that the woman’s foreign marriage should not be recognised as valid in England. She also declared it would be in the woman’s “best interests” for a nullity application to be issued.

The judge concluded: “In my view it is the duty of a doctor or other health or social work professional who becomes aware that an incapacitated person may undergo a marriage abroad, to notify the learning disabilities team of Social Services and/or the Forced Marriage Unit if information comes to light that there are plans for an overseas marriage of a patient who has or may lack capacity.

“The communities where this is likely to happen also need to be told, loud and clear, that if a person, whether male or female, enters into a marriage when they do not have the capacity to understand what marriage is, its nature and duties, or its consequences, or to understand sexual relations, that that marriage may not be recognised, that sexual relations will constitute a criminal offence, and that the courts have the power to intervene.”

According to the recently published judgment, the woman – known only as DD to protect her identity – has a “very significant degree of learning disability” and needs help with almost all daily tasks.

In 2003 she married a cousin in Bangladesh and after two failed attempts he was granted a spousal visa in 2009, allowing him to move in with his wife at her family home in an English town.

“Eventually” the local authority found out about the situation and police obtained a Forced Marriage Protection order, leading to experts giving evidence on her capacity.

The judge said the council has “accepted its failures” while the woman’s GP had not raised concerns despite being asked on at least three occasions about “marriage and pregnancy”.

At a hearing in 2010 the judge ruled, “in the face of very strong resistance” from relatives, that DD lacked the capacity to marry or consent to sex and that it was unlawful for her husband to have intercourse with her.

Evidence was then considered as to whether or not the marriage should be annulled, leading to the latest ruling.

The judge said the woman lived in a “very traditional family” in a “close-knit community” that was not integrated with other Bengalis in the area.

“Her parents are very largely insulated from mainstream English society and are mistrustful of non-Bengalis. They do not communicate well in English: her mother understands and speaks almost none. They are devout Muslims.”

The judge said DD was a “loved and valued member of her family and that her parents are devoted to her”, and that in their culture it is seen as parents’ duty to arrange marriages and find spouses for disabled children.

Her mother, father and husband “begged” the judge not to quash the marriage as “there would be considerable stigma in Bangladesh for them”.

But Mrs Justice Parker insisted the bride “does not have even the most basic understanding of marriage” and she “rejected” her family’s account of how the wedding came about.

She said the union had “exposed her to great risk” and led to family tensions as well as conflict with social services who look after her.

‘Janji Ditepati’, but no water, road or electricity

According to Barisan Nasional assemblyman Johnical Rayong, rural villagers in Sarawak are 'light years away in development'.

KUCHING: Rural kampung folk in Sarawak who have been living in poverty for decades are being told to vote for Barisan Nasional if they want development in their areas.

According to Engkilili assemblyman Dr Johnical Rayong, the opposition is “only good at making promises” but BN keeps its word, alluding to Prime Minsiter Najib Tun Razak’s “Janji Ditepati’ slogan.

Najib’s slogan, however, is out-of-sync in Sarawak and in Sabah where poverty, poor infrastructure, lack of healthcare and basic necessities are a norm.

Both states, despite their immense natural resources and oil, are among the poorest in the country.

Sabah in fact was declared the poorest by the World Bank and Sarawak is third. The bulk of rural Sarawak is still devoid of clean piped water, electricity and decent roads. Life is ridiculously tough and cost of living higher than in Peninsular Malaya.

The BN coalition under Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has “ruled” Sarawak for decades and its publicly espoused “development agenda” has not trickled down to the masses.

The elite have become richer while the rural natives live under the shadow of land grabs, displacements (due to deforestations), gangsters and rogue politicians.

‘Light years behind development’

But the 2008 political storm in Peninsular Malaya and the subsequent outcome of the state election last year have been a cold shower for local leaders who until then lorded over the state.

Opposition DAP and PKR made dramatic inroads wresting 12 and three seats respectively from Sarawak BN. PKR lost Senadin by a contentious 58 seats.

Many other seats were retained by BN but with small majorities making the 13th parliamentary election a precarious one for BN.

Except for Taib’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu-held 14 seats, the rest of the coalition’s partners – Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) – are up against a tougher opposition.

Sources predict that BN will lose up to 10 seats in Sarawak. SUPP, PRS and SPDP collectively hold 17 seats.

The bulk of these seats are in Chinese-centric areas and rural interior; the very folk whom Rayong targeted when he said “BN is the most ideal and democratic government in Malaysia.”

Said Rayong at a meet-the-people session in Lidong, recently: “The rural people… they still need the BN government. (They) are still light years behind in the development wave.

“What is the use of supporting the opposition to fight the BN… the opposition is only good at making promises, they cannot do anything to improve the people’s livelihood… vote for BN candidates.”

Rayong is not the only one desperately trying to convince an increasingly sceptical rural audience who are beginning to see themselves as victims of unscrupulous and arrogant politicians who behave like “gods” or in PRS president James Masing’s words like “towkays”.

Free money, projects

The amount of projects being spun and of cash disbursed under the Minor Rural Projects (MRP) is immense – RM10,000 here, RM7,000 there and RM3,000 everywhere. Every village security committee and localised women and youth groups are getting some form of “spending” money for their activities.

Yesterday, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang said that 48 agriculture stations throughout the state will be reactivated or newly set up.

He said more than 100 agriculture assistants would be recruited to man these stations, meaning there will jobs to look forward to but according to him “it will take more than a year to recruit them”.

Earlier this week, State Public Utilities Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said Ba Kelalan constituency will finally have electricity.

An ironical statement, seeing the constituency was under BN before PKR wrested it last April.

According to Awang Tengah, “RES (Rural Electricification Scheme) funds are now ready for areas in Ba Kelalan”.

Apparently the “focus” of the RES has now been “switched” to Ba Kelalan because most of Bukit Sari is served by main lines.

Awang Tengah is Bukit Sari assemblyman and both Ba Kelalan and Bukit Sari fall under the Lawas parliamentary constituency, which BN intelligence has identifed as a “grey” area.

This aside, the Sarawak Welfare, Women and Family Development Ministry has also been doing its bit with the cash handouts – having spent over RM60 million in the last six months.

Some 47,097 poor and less fortunate people – voters no less – have allegedly benefited.

According to minister Fatimah Abdullah, the grant is for target group “to provide them with the means to carry out projects or business that can increase and improve their income and living standards”.

The giveaways now are just the tip of the iceberg. The bigger handouts will come as the

PKR rubbishes MIC man’s claim

There is also no truth in Kumar Amman's claim that he interviewed Anwar for his Tamil tabloid.

PETALING JAYA: PKR today denied that MIC central working committee (CWC) member G Kumar Amman held a discussion with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim over issues effecting the Malaysian Indian community.

Rubbishing the MIC leader’s claim, PKR national strategy and policy bureau secretary, S Gobi Krishnan, said Kumar Amman, who is also the editor of Makkal Aathi (a newly launched Tamil monthly tabloid), also did not conduct any kind of interview with Anwar when they met some time ago.

“I was there in the meeting and I am very sure Kumar Amman never spoke anything about the betterment of Indian community,” he told FMT.

A news report published by the latest edition of Makkal Aatchi quoted Kumar Amman as saying that he met Anwar to ask the opposition leader to look into issues besieging the Indian community.

He said the meeting, arranged by him, was held at the PKR headquarters in June.

“I was told by my friend that Kumar Amman was interested in joining PKR. He was very adamant to meet Anwar, despite meeting a party vice-president earlier. Thus, I arranged for him to meet Anwar,” added Gobi.

Gobi claimed that during the meeting Kumar Amman made a few demands including asking for a parliamentary seat for him to contest under the PKR banner.

“He also set a condition that PKR must form an Indian bureau and that he lead the bureau,” he alleged.

However, Gobi said, Anwar dismissed the demands, saying that PKR was a multi-racial party and that there was no room for any race-based politics in the party.

Gobi also claimed that Kumar Amman had said that he was vexed with the current MIC leadership since the party had refused to give him a seat in the upcoming general election.

“He also promised to bring in a veteran CWC member and a prominent Youth leader, if PKR was willing to fulfil his demands. However, Anwar decided against bringing him in. I am exposing details of the meeting because Kumar Amman has twisted the issue,” claimed Gobi.

Kumar Amman has failed to respond with comment for this article despite repeated requests.

Don’t be a hypocrite, Lim told

Gerakan's Baljit Singh criticises the DAP sec gen for his vacillating stand on party hopping.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Gerakan called DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng a hypocrite for his ‘consistent inconsistency’ in condemning political frogs from both sides of the political divide.

Its legal and human rights bureau head Baljit Singh recalled that Lim had swiftly condemned Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives hopping to Barisan Nasional as “frogs.”

He said Lim, the Penang Chief Minister, had also been quick to criticise those who defected from Pakatan to become a BN-friendly independent MPs.

However, he said Lim had strangely been voiceless when the hopping trend switched from BN to Pakatan.

He recalled that Lim’s silence was deafening when Pakatan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was openly touting defections from BN to help him to seize federal powers on Sept 16, 2008.

Unlike Lim, he said that DAP national chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh was the only Pakatan leader to condemn Anwar’s desire to takeover Putrajaya by defections.

“Where was Lim then? Why he was so quiet? The cat got his tongue?” asked Baljit.

“Perhaps he was more keen to know who is going to be the first non-Malay deputy prime minister of the country,” he told a press conference here today.

Also present were Penang Gerakan’s vice-chairman Dr Lim Boon Han, deputy youth chief Tan Kah Leong and bureau heads Dr Thor Teong Gee for publicity, information and communications, and Rowena Yam for political training.

Gerakan was responding to Lim’s statement in vernacular newspapers on Monday, in which he touched on Sabah’s political scenario.

In the last two weeks, Tuaran MP Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing, Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin and Senator Maijol Mahap have defected from BN and declared their support for Pakatan.

They said they had lost confidence in BN for its failure to resolve the illegal immigration problem in Sabah.

Blaming BN

Lim reportedly said that he could not understand on why the BN condemned the defectors as “frogs” when it was BN that encouraged the culture.

Lim has said the defectors could not tolerate the federal and Sabah BN ill-treating locals and ignoring their rights.

Lim has also stressed the need for the country to have an anti-hopping law to stop defections among elected representatives.

“When a rep quits a party, the seat must be elected again,” said Lim.

But he said BN would not enforce such laws because the coalition would need to buy reps.

On this, Baljit asked Lim to reveal “how much was in offer” when Anwar blithely encouraged defections from BN for his 916 coup agenda.

Baljit also asked whether the Sabah defectors can be called as “toads” since Lim hypocritically refused to term them as “frogs.”

He said he was also curious to know where Lim was when the parliamentary select committee for electoral reform came to Penang to receive feedback, recommendations and proposals.

“Gerakan pushed for an anti-hoping law to stop defections by all elected representatives. Why didn’t Lim say anything then? He has been consistent in his inconsistency,” said Baljit.

All we want for Raya

If Najib wants to give us a real Raya present, then let us have a referendum on hudud and settle the issue once and for all.
COMMENT

We despise more taxpayers’ money being wasted on the buying of votes in the guise of duit raya, but a nice Raya gift for the rakyat would be an end to incompetence and hypocrisy.

Of all the ministers, whom we choose to mock, the Minister of Education, Muhyiddin Yassin, must be in the top 10.

On Aug 15, Bernama reported that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had received visitors from abroad who praised Malaysia for being a “special and much admired Muslim country” and “the best example of a progressive Muslim nation”. These representatives had also wanted to use Malaysia as a template to further improve their own nations.

As ordinary Malaysians, we would have shared in Muhyiddin’s ebullience – until we read that the views had been expressed by people from Afghanistan, Palestine and Somalia.

Muhyiddin talked about Muslim unity and compared the situation in Syria with Malaysia, where Malaysians, he said, lived in peaceful harmony because of its responsible leaders.

He said, “…What is important is that Islamic unity must be placed at the pinnacle of our effort to develop the nation.”

Did the DPM not have visitors from more progressive Muslim nations, such as Indonesia or Turkey, and would their views have been the same as those of the conflict-ridden and war-torn nations?

One wonders what Muhyiddin’s guests would have thought about the desperate attempts by Umno to “unite” the Malays using, race, religion and the sultans. In the latest fiasco, the May 13 film – “Tanda Putera” – is used to incite hatred of the Chinese, and frighten the Malays.

Would the foreigners be impressed with our corrupt Muslim leaders? Would they admire the ingenious methods used to cling onto power? Would they marvel at the symbiotic relationship of Umno and the VVIPs used to retain control?

Some of these nations got rid of their own VVIPs decades ago to become republics. What is their impression of an Education Minister, who appears to condone the actions of racist teachers? Would they have praise for the way Malaysia treats its Muslim women, who are in contact with beer and books?

Minister’s tasteless joke

Another minister who attracts an equal amount of opprobrium is Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. He told an online news portal that fighting crime has never been considered a priority in the 55 years of Malaysian independence. He hinted that society was partly to blame for rising levels of crime.

In May 2010, Hishammuddin met 100 students at the Malaysian Students Department in London, and said that idle gossip fuelled the perception of a much higher level of street crimes, than in reality.

He said, “Most victims are women. What do women do? They go to the hairdressers… they chit-chat and suddenly it is everywhere and cause people to fear.”(sic.)

His tasteless and sexist joke backfired. Hishammuddin seems oblivious to the concerns of the public – men who mysteriously fell off buildings, people who had “sudden death” syndrome during their time in the police lock-up and teenagers who died after being shot by policemen.

If Hishammuddin had taken his duties seriously and improved morale in the police, enhanced the standards of policing and increased public confidence in the police, we would not be demanding his removal now. Instead, he made it a priority to hound opposition leaders and people who attend “democracy marches”.

It’s not just ministers who are unproductive. The Perkasa chief, Ibrahim Ali, warned the DAP chairman Karpal Singh to respect the Muslims’ right to hudud. He claimed that the majority of Malaysians were Muslim and that the majority wins, in a democracy.

“If the majority want hudud, he [Karpal] cannot oppose it… hudud is the fundamental right of Muslims.”

Ibrahim described the people who opposed hudud as “stepping on the heads of Muslims”. He lumped “liberal Muslims” in this group and called them irresponsible.

“When other races insult Islam, they [the liberal Muslims] don’t speak out against it. Why didn’t they say something when pig heads were hurled into a mosque?…But when paint is splashed onto a church, they make a lot of noise…”

Umno’s scapegoats

This is where Ibrahim is wrong. His listening skills are selective – like the switching on or off, of a hearing aid. His memory also seems somewhat selective. Has he forgotten that the pig heads were allegedly thrown into the mosques by Muslim fundamentalists who were fomenting unrest?

A few liberal Muslims have been brave enough to condemn attacks against people of other faiths. The others are petrified about saying anything in public because the thugs, who are controlled by Umno, are not people whom one can easily reason. Umno intimidates, rather than impresses with knowledge. Umno attacks rather than articulates with facts.

With the 13th general election approaching, Umno is in trouble. Scandals, exposé, corruption and incompetence are making headline news, in the alternative media, on a daily basis.

Instead of acting on the various tip-offs about corruption and abuse at the highest levels of government, Umno wants to make scapegoats out of the whistle-blowers and those who expose the scandals.

One such person Umno targeted is Rafizi Ramli. His arrest is to act as a deterrent. No more. No less. His arrest is intended to scare others who have damaging information about our corrupt leaders.

That is why hudud is a non-issue. It is merely a distraction, like the many other distractions which are thrown in the public arena to confuse us, and draw attention away from scandals, in the run-up to the general election.

Both the non-Muslims and the majority of Muslims, not just the liberal ones, oppose hudud. We wouldn’t want a Cabinet staffed with ministers who have only one hand and foot each.

If Najib wants to give us a real Raya present, then let us have a referendum on hudud and settle the issue once and for all. The hudud distraction seems to resurface whenever Umno is in serious trouble.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.

Nasharudin says not leaving Pas, accuses Karpal of anti-Islam

(NST) - Former Pas deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa said he is not leaving the Islamic party amidst amounting pressure over a photo of him taken with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Mecca recently.
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Bachok member of parliament said the meeting was non-partisan and that he was invited on a request by Saudi clerics.

"The clerics are my friends and they requested if I could arrange a meeting with the prime minister. After the prime minister agreed, I was invited on a special visa to attend the meeting," he said.

Nasharudin explained that the meeting did not touch on any matters pertaining Pas or Umno.

"What we discussed was issues surrounding crises in Syria and Rohingya The clerics talked about what role Malaysia can play to help these countries," he said.

He stressed that he never had any intention to leave Pas for Umno.

"After the meeting, people suddenly said I would join Umno. For the umpteenth time, I have never had any intention to join Umno. I just consider them (the leaders in Umno) as my Muslim brothers.

"Differing views in politics shouldn't be a reason why we cannot sit down and talk about the society," he said.

Earlier, Nasharudin accused DAP chairman Karpal Singh as anti-Islam for his refusal to accept hudud law and that Pas should make a decisive stand against him.

"Pas should make a strong stand on this issue. It is our fight for Islam that makes people support us. However, with continuous objection by Karpal, many are still waiting what Pas would do about that," he said.

Who have conned the Chinese in Malaysia?

CPI introduction

We are reproducing below an excerpt from a former MCA insider who has left the country for good. The excerpt is from his letter responding to a request from his friend asking him to consider a return to Malaysia.

The excerpt provides a personal but important perspective of the role of non-Malay parties in the Barisan Nasional. It has been reproduced with the consent of the writer whose identity we’re withholding.

An article from The Star provides the background to this disclosure.

YONG PENG: DAP's long-term political agenda is to join Barisan Nasional in a bid to protect its supreme position in Penang, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

“DAP politicians are like any other politicians, for them it is the thirst for power.

“Penang has limited resources and how long can (Penang Chief Minister) Lim Guan Eng tender his land?" Dr Chua said, adding that the DAP hoped to see the MCA disappear and be replaced in Barisan.

He urged the Chinese community not to be conned by the Opposition party.

(extract from the newspaper on Aug 4)

Excerpt from letter by the MCA insider

From my experience with MCA and the people whom I had worked with in the party, I can only say that most of them (from Lee San Choon, Koon Swan, Liong Sik, Kim Sai, Ka Ting, Tee Keat and all the other people at federal and state level) KNOW that the Chinese in Malaysia is not ever going to be in a position to influence the direction of how the country is to be governed, i.e. to say anything that affects MAJOR policies.

There’s just this denial syndrome that non-Umno parties are just there for window-dressing; so the next best thing to do is scoop up the scraps Umno throw their way... except Taib and PBB who take the lion’s share as well!

From the many, many sessions of central committee meetings and brainstorming, seminars, courses, etc, the one main thing to emerge is to only defend or safeguard Chinese position in education and economic sectors ... we’re down to TAR College, Utar and Chinese business interests which, sad to say, …is playing to Umno whims and patronage… macam crony business.

The rest in the SME (small and medium industries) can pray to God and hope to survive and are at the mercy of the idiots who run the bureaucracy.

There is NO hope ever under Umno that Chinese position will improve because the OVERRIDING philosophy since May 13 is that non Malay/Muslims are to be assimilated (much like the Borg in Star Trek).

That is why MCA is always fighting ghosts; Umno is always lying, even when the truth is exposed about their true intention.

MCA people know this and pretend to fight for Chinese when they know they are only protecting their personal interests/financial gain, through Umno patronage.

The BN was never a coalition; it is and always has been an illusion created by Umno to present an imaginary front to the world that the people represented by the various races and parties support them.

[Our elites] cheat and bribe their way in elections and steal what they can, when they can, with impunity. They not only do that, they find ways to criminalise the victims!! That takes them ten levels above the Somali pirates!

To cut a long story short, and to answer your question about going back, even if Penang booms further under DAP, the short answer is NO; I’ve burnt my bridges … It’s just too hard to ever hope that they will ever understand the meaning of a civil society, let alone try to forge one in the years ahead, even if PKR takes over Putrajaya... my prediction is that the worst is yet to come. I hope I’ll be proven wrong in my lifetime.

Hudud has always been used as a weapon to frighten the Chinese and some extremists in PAS may have been used by Umno/Perkasa to split PKR, so MCA is just playing the propaganda game to try to win back some Chinese votes. Umno on the other hand is using [the Malay fear of] Chinese political power to frighten Malays.

Be Firm In Upholding Islam, Dr Mahathir Tells PAS

ALOR SETAR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- PAS should be firm in its struggle to uphold Islam and not keep changing its stand in order to gain favourable political mileage, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Previously, some people left Umno to set up PAS because they were not chosen as elected representatives, not really to uphold religion. So it is not surprising that their struggle now is the same as before.

"Umno has declared Malaysia an Islamic state. It's alright if PAS cannot accept it.

"But if they want to leave the opposition to be with us in upholding Islam, we have no problem of accepting them," he told reporters after handing over aid to 900 poor and elderly people, and orphans at the Al-Taqwa Mosque, Kampung Jerlun near here Thursday.

He was commenting on the DAP-PAS row over the latter's refusal to budge from the hudud and Islamic state championed by PAS.

Released ISA Detainees No Longer Pose Threat, Says Hishammuddin

SUNGAI BULOH, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the government was satisfied that the 12 individuals released under the Internal Security Act (ISA) Friday no longer posed a threat to national security.

Speaking after a one hour visit to the Sungai Buloh prison here, he said today's number did not include the three people, a local, and a Pakistani and Sri Lankan, who were released earlier at the start of Ramadhan.

The 12 individuals had been involved in human trafficking and terrorism, he added.

"They comprised seven locals, three Indonesians and two Pakistanis. They were released after the government felt they had repented as a result of undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation process," he said.

"The decision was not based on political pressure but made after due consideration and study of security aspects.

"This shows the government doesn't act on political considerations or emotional demands but strikes a balance between national interest and security, and the rights of an individual," said Hishammuddin.

Commenting on the 11 locals and 19 foreigners still in detention, he said the government needed to scrutinise the matter before making a decision on them.

A total of 25 individuals have been released since the enforcement of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, on July 31.

Another death in custody: So, why are cops probing cops?

Human rights organisation Suaram today condemned the police for yet another death in custody, and questioned the credibility of an investigation into the matter by the police themselves.

Suaram coordinator R Thevarajan said the death of 36-year-old Cheah Chin Lee hours after arrest should instead be investigated by an independent body.

Thevarajan said a conflict of interest would still arise even if the death was investigated by an officer from a different police district.

"In the absence of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), the police will always be investigated by their own peers," he said.

The investigation could also be done through the setting up of a coroner's court, which would conduct independent inquests, with the result made public.

'No cover up' pledge

"Otherwise, the people will hold the officer-in-charge and/or police liable for Cheah's death," Thevarajan said.

Cheah was pronounced dead at the Northeast District police headquarters on Jalan Pattani in George Town on Aug 13, five hours after he was arrested.

According to the preliminary post-mortem report, he died of "asphyxia due to hanging", but the family is claiming Cheah, who had been arrested for the first time, was mentally stable, had a permanent job and would not take his own life.

George Town OCPD Gan Kon Meng has ordered an investigation into Cheah's death and has vowed that there would be no cover up on the matter.

Mumbai Riots : Senior Police officers ordered release of arrested riot-mongering Muslims !

O Hindus ! Police invade your houses and thrash you, your wife and children during Muslim riots and sets Muslims free to run another riot !

Mumbai : A news report appeared in Marathi daily ‘Loksatta’ on 13^th August 2012 raising a doubt whether the recent Jihadi violence by anti-national Muslims in Mumbai had a tacit support of senior police officers. The report further says the investigation of the riot was going on. According to the investigation, during the riot when the policemen caught the riot-mongering Muslims, the senior police officers gave orders to release them. The report further gave the following information. 

1. It is surprising that in spite of there being a strong police force of a joint police commissioner, an additional police commissioner and four deputy commissioners as also the Riot Control Squad and Rapid Action Force at the site of riot, there was no attempt on the part of the police to stop the violence. 

 2. The crowd attacked the policemen on duty with pre-planning; however, no one rushed to their rescue.

3. A policeman present at the site of riot said, “I fail to understand why we were taken to task by senior police officers when we caught the rioter Muslims. A deputy commissioner caught a rioter red-handed. But the senior officers ordered his release.” What is significant is the fact that this time no water cannons were used on the rioters. (O Hindus ! Demand enquiry against the senior police officers of Mumbai who did not arrest the rioter Muslims and for not taking any action against them ! – Editor SP)
Source : Daily Sanatan Prabhat

Nurul Izzah: Reveal B'fields police station land deal

Walk for Merdeka

Turkey: State TV ''censors'' Lennon's Imagine

 

 John Lennon

(ANSAmed) - ANKARA - An incomplete translation of John Lennon's song Imagine during Turkish state TV coverage of the Olympics closing ceremony has the country's independent media and secular opposition up in arms.

A reporter from state-run TRT television translated the famous song live, but omitted the last part of the lyrics when he came to the lines ''Imagine... nothing to kill or die for / And no religion too.'' Oversight or censorship? The jury is still out, but the center-left opposition and secular organizations accuse Islamic nationalist Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan - whose pet project is a gigantic mosque to dwarf all other mosques, which he has promised the people of Istanbul - of secretly wanting to Islamicize the country. Not only that, but he is willing to quash dissent by muzzling the press in order to do so. Which, says the opposition, directly contravenes the secular tenets of the constitution laid down by the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

''TRT refuses to imagine a world without religion, and censors Lennon,'' Hurriyet daily said. (ANSAmed).

Cops fired tear gas with intention to harm, says Bersih

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — Police fired tear gas with the intention of harming participants of the April 28 rally for free and fair elections here, and used excessive force to make arbitrary arrests, the Bersih electoral reforms group said today.

The allegation was made by Bersih leaders today in a report submitted to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and was backed by video and other documentary evidence.

"The police fired tear gas canisters directly at the crowd, causing individuals to be hit by tear gas canisters. A participant was hit by a tear gas canister when a police officer shot a tear gas canister at him within a five metre distance to stop him from recording events taking place at the rally.

"Another woman who was attempting to escape from tear gas was hit by two tear gas canisters when police officers fired tear gas canisters at her and other participants at a 10 metre distance which caused her to be hit by two tear gas canisters.

"In addition, we have footage that shows a tear gas canister flying low at a crowd which hit a man who fainted from the impact. This clearly illustrates that tear gas was fired with the intention to harm participants," Bersih said in its report.

The group added that tear gas was also fired in such a way that it led to participants being boxed in to narrow spaces and prevented them from being able to disperse quickly.

Bersih added that the police used indiscriminate, disproportionate, unjustified and excessive use of force against participants who largely did not display any act of provocation or misbehaviour.

"A video by a participant depicts a policeman grabbing a young man in a Bersih shirt and pulling him away from a small crowd. Other policemen then join in and assault the man, who eventually manages to run away.

"Another video shows a traffic policeman aiming his gun at protestors who were then forced to move towards Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman which was filled with tear gas. An eyewitness at the Sogo shopping mall saw other police officers nearby who did not stop the traffic policeman and instead went after protestors.

The Bersih report added that participants who were having meals at restaurants were also arrested or assaulted.

"One individual was eating at a restaurant at the Masjid Jamek area at around 7.20pm when a few police officers pulled him out of the restaurant and beat him.

Thousands of Malaysians gathered in the city on April 28 to mount a protest demanding free and fair elections.

The demonstration turned chaotic after police fired tear gas and protesters were unable to disperse because of the huge crowds choking the narrow streets.

Suhakam is currently conducting an inquiry into the allegations of police violence.

Why build condos on Brickfields police land?

Little India with its thriving business community needs more than a police beat base, says PKR.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR has questioned the federal government’s move to replace Brickfields’ district police headquarters with two high-rise condominiums.

Alleging that crime was on the rise in the area, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said that locals here needed a strong police presence.

Given the area’s prominence and heavy commercial activity, she did not think that a smaller police beat base – one suggested by the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry- was enough.

“They (Brickfields locals) need to enjoy a district police headquarters, and now the government [wants to] give them a mere police beat?” she told reporters in front of the former police station, along Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

Bukit Bintang MP (DAP) Fong Kui Lun and Segambut MP (DAP) Lim Lip Eng were also present.

She was referring to Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin who in a The Star report said that a 1,000-sq ft police beat base would be built in nearby Little India.

Serving the community for more than 30 years, the police headquarters was vacated in 2010 and its operations shifted to Sri Petaling, more than 12km away.

Following a land swap deal, the area which formerly housed a police station and quarters, is now abandoned and is slated for residential development.

A KL City Hall (DBKL) notice set up in front of the former quarters showed that two condominium blocks – each with 33 and 41 floors respectively – are slated to be built there.

Its intended density would also be changed from 400 to 450 people an acre.

Umno-linked Primamuda

Armed with a Parliamentary written response from Raja Nong Chik, Nurul said that the land still belonged to

the Federal Territory Land Commissioner as of March 2 this year.

However, this land was in the process of being handed over to Primamuda Holdings Sdn Bhd, a private developer.

Nurul then alleged that one of the company’s directors was none other than Bukit Bintang Wanita Umno chief Mariany Mohamad Yit.

This detail led Nurul to ask if the land swap and subsequent costs were done in an open manner.

Looking to the past, she said that the federal government had attempted a land swap in Federal Hill in Sept 2005; a move that was opposed by residents, and later overturned.

“If the swap was not suitable for Federal Hill residents, why would it be suitable in a highly congested and densely populated Brickfields?” she said.

The MPs present then asked that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe the land deal.

Part of Brickfields is currently being refurbished into a modern Little India. The area is home to a predominant Indian community and is adjacent to the KL Sentral business district.

500 natives storm police station

Sarawak police raided a village and detained five people whose names were not even in the report filed by a plantation company for allegedly burning a bridge.

KUCHING: Some 500 angry villagers with their children from Melikin and nearby longhouses in Serian and Simunjan stormed the Serian police station yesterday, demanding the release of five individuals who were detained on Sunday night for allegedly causing a fire.

The villagers learnt that the five – Sanjan Ambol, 58, Musit Ngawing, 52, Tuai Rumah Nyalu Tampa, 55, Samad Junna, 41, and Singa Unsit, 58, – were to be charged at the Serian district court. All five were villagers from Melikin, Danau Melikin and Ensebang Plaie.

The villagers first went to the Serian district office, but on hearing that they were still being detained at the Serian police station, they rushed there and demanded that the detainees be released immediately.

The police had to restrain the angry villagers from entering the police compound and even threatened to arrest them, but they ignored the warning.

The five detainees were released at about 11am without any charge being framed against them despite being remanded for three days.

Freed detainee longhouse chief Nyalu Tampa expressed surprise to see so many people had come to support them.

“Their support gives us strength and makes us more determined to defend our NCR [native customary rights] land,” he said.

The detainees’ lawyer, See Chee How, said that they were arrested on Sunday night after representatives of United Teamtrade Oil Palm Company lodged a report that a bridge to the plantation was burnt.

“My clients should not have been arrested in the middle of the night when the police have not carried out investigation first.

“They simply arrested them based on a report lodged by the company, and without concrete evidence. Moreover, this is not a serious crime.

“Why can’t they wait until the next morning? I can even ask my clients to surrender themselves to any police station,” said See, who is also Sarawak PKR vice-Chairman and the Batu Lintang assemblyman.

See said that he received a call on Sunday night from one of the villagers telling him that the police were at the village to arrest the five persons.

Illegal arrest

He said he spoke to Inspector Azlan Abdul Wahab who led the police party and asked him why they were arresting the villagers for a minor act.

He told Azlan that they could have just asked the individuals to surrender themselves in the morning.

“But he told me that his instruction was for him to arrest them immediately. I asked him who was his superior so that I could talk to him.

“Azlan told me that his instruction was very strict, and could not tell me, ” said See.

He added that he informed Azlan that the police action was malicious and illegal.

“Moreover, no one has been identified in the police report made by the company.

“It is very malicious on the part of Azlan [to arrest the villagers]. I hope that he was not instructed by a senior police officer because it is bad.

“You have not done any investigation and yet you arrest them. That is illegal,” he said.

Besides questioning the legality of the arrest, See also questioned the rationale for bringing the five detainees all the way to Tebedu sub-district for the application of a remand order.

He said when he went to Serian on Monday, the application for the remand order was not done in Serian because the district officer who is also the magistrate was not in Serian.

The police, he said, could have asked the Tebedu Sarawak Administrative Officer come down, but they did not do it.

“Why did the police want to make it so difficult? They could also have taken the five villagers to the Balai Ringin sub-district which is a stone’s throw from Melikin.

“But when you apply for a remand order, you must first carry out an investigation and tell the magistrate why you need it.

“The police should have investigated the detainees during the night, but they did not do it,” said See.

Legal action against cops

See said the five detainees have instructed him to take legal action against the company and the government for taking away their land as well as against the police for arresting them without proof.

The dispute between the company and the native landowners has reached a critical point after the company issued a notice demanding anyone riding a motorcycle using the company’s road will have to pay RM5 per entry.

For cars, the drivers have to pay RM30 and for 4WD vehicles, the drivers will have to pay RM50 per entry.

The toll has angered the people who have lands and farms at the other side of the plantation and in retaliation, the native landowners mounted a blockade to stop the company from using their road to the plantation.

[Photo showing arrested native villagers is from Sarawak Indigenous Community News website]