Criticising a party or leader does not amount to insulting a race or religion

This article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 2/3/2014

Since 2008, there have been many allegations that the Malays and Islam have been insulted, undermined and challenged. The impression given is that they are constantly under threat.

The situation has turned from bad to worse. Nowadays, when someone criticises a top leader of Umno, the dominant party in the ruling coalition, he or she would inevitably be accused of insulting the Malay race, Islam and even challenging the special rights of the Malays.

Almost everyone is wondering why the country’s political landscape has turned so ugly. Why must politics be so racist and be filled with threats and acts of vengeance? We keep asking all these questions to the politicians almost every day.

The country gained its independence more than 56 years ago and by now, it should be developed, civilised and mature in terms of political, socio-economic and human rights, or whatever you could name.

Unfortunately, our political and economic situation is deteriorating, our human rights record has turned sour, and our press freedom and freedom of expression have been curbed deliberately.

This sad state of affairs is caused by a lack of political will from the government and the ruling party, which has been in power since independence, to get rid of corruption, power abuse and mismanagement. Cronyism and nepotism are also allowed to breed in the administration.

Thus it is not surprising that leaders of the ruling party and the government are regularly mocked and criticised for their inaction to stop the rot and their inability to run the country well. In certain instances, these leaders and the ruling party were made fun of via cartoon drawings, street arts and video clips.

Instead of taking these criticisms in their stride and making an effort to overcome their shortcomings, these leaders and their supporters turned their guns on the critics, systematically accusing them of insulting their race and religion. To make matters worse, the Malay rulers have been dragged into the picture in an attempt to silence the critics and the opposition or to threaten them into submission.

These racist and extremist groups would always find ways to justify their actions to “defend” these underperforming leaders, no matter how unreasonable or detestable their protests are.

The question is, if our prime minister is criticised and mocked for his ineptness and inaction on national issues, is it fair to equate that to insulting the Malays, Islam and worse even the Yang di-Pertuan Agong just because the prime minister is the leader of a Malay party? Does that make any sense?

These racist and extremist groups are simply operating under the guise of “defending” their leader to protect the race, religion and the rulers. They have resorted to promoting hatred, violence and threats in the name of one race, one religion and the rulers.

This begs the question of whether the prime minister serves only as the leader of one particular race and religion and is only answerable to the rulers. Shouldn’t he be acting as the leader of all Malaysians and be accountable to all the people?

The racist and extremist groups which are indulging in all kinds of dirty politicking should show proof of the elements of insult to the Malays, Islam and the rulers.

If these trouble makers could warn people not to “test” their patience, then let us remind them that in Malaysia, democracy is the way of politics. Therefore, the prime minister, ministers and leaders of the ruling party or coalition are always subjected to public scrutiny and criticism not just in their official capacity but also on how they conduct themselves.

Whatever is happening in our nation’s politics is purely about how democracy is evolving to fit into the reality and achieve its maturity. It has nothing to do with race, religion and the Malay rulers.

The fact is that the prime minister and his government have deliberately failed us.