In the midst of this craziness, Dr Rafick provides a reassuring voice of sanity here.
Mustafa K Anuar has released a press statement on behalf of Aliran here while Haris Ibrahim has his take here.
And Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad (Pas) explains soberly the background to the temple relocation here and here.
The final word here goes to Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin (Umno).
Related posts:
A tiny group of extremist can ruin a country easily as what had happened in Rwanda.
Inaction to check this sort of extremism by police will encourage more provocations to incite racial and religious conflicts.
Musa Hasan’s contract shall not be renewed.
YTM TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN DECLARED
Now in the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful I, Tengku Abdul Rahman Putra ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halimshah, Prime Minister of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, with the concurrence and approval of Their Highnesses the Rulers of the Malay States do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf of the people of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu that as from the thirty first day of August, nineteen hundred and fifty-seven, the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu comprising the States of Johore, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Trengganu, Perak, Malacca and Penang is and with God’s blessing shall be for ever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principle of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations.
Federal Constitution – Article 11 states:
“” 11. Freedom of religion
(1) Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.
(2) No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own.(3) Every religious group has the right-
(a) to manage its own religious affairs;
(b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious orcharitable purposes; and
(c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it inaccordance with law.
(4) State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.
(5) This Article does not authorise any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality. ”
In fact from 1958 – 1980 Malaysian enjoys enjoyed free
thought and expression.
But you observe recently a number OF mad politicians
going around the country and creating trouble – demolishing temples which creates a dangerous situation.
What happened to the demolition of temple in India
Thousands of Innocent People died. It is a very good
lesson.
What happended to ADVANI today – his POLITICAL PARTY
is gone due this main factory -DEMOLITION OF TEMPLES
Why cannot we find a reasonable solution to this problem.
We must try to live in harmony with other religions.
In fact, ISLAM is a very tolerant religion – but the
political fellows are inciting by going around and demolishing temples – unfortunately the hindu politicians
like samy is not bothered to do anything – his interest
is money.
GOD SAVE MALAYSIA
What? Now he is saying somebody planted the head there? Is he stupid or what? Reporters are there taking pictures and he comes up with this excuse? Morons or senile?
He forgot that a picture paints a thousand words..
Showing the cow head incident on RTM1 news with one of the speaker threatening bloodshed is the most sutpid move by the BN govt. Indirectly they are giving airtime to “terrorist”!!!
And all these while the Govt is in denial why there is so much of brain drain, and many Malaysians choose to settle overseas after their tertiary education.
It is not about the money or bringing one car back.
The Flip-flop over the Maths/Science-English issue. I am not going to bring my kids back here when I am happy with them learning Engish in Australia or USA…
The list goes on and on…
Its really sad to see Malaysia degrading to extremism and no tolerance. I am a Malaysian who lives overseas in a Westen country. In this Western country the Muslim population is 1% and Non-Muslim is 99%. But they are free to build thier Mosque anywhere they like. In fact there are quite a few mosques. Should we destroy these mosques because 99% of the population is non-muslim? Everyone has a right to worship, it is a GOD given right, GOD has given man freedom to choose. These kind of acts do not promote Islam but rather give them negative pubilicity. I believe not all Malays are like that, but sad to see so much intolerance in Malaysia today. What is the point of religion if it brings fighting and intolerance among the people GOD created. Should we not be kind and compassionate to one another irrespective of race or religion. Whether one likes it or not Malaysia is compromised by different religions and diffeent races.
Now the police said they cannot simply arrest and charged anyone (????). Just becoz they (may be linked to) UMNO and Muslim?
Why those demonstrators in the name of democracy can be arrested and charged at will? Why two sets of rule and law?? Can the CPO please clarify?? You have to coz you are my employee!!! I demand your answer or I want you sacked from the force.
The lack of political will to curb extremism is degrading the country. Fortunately, the majority of the moslems in the country have spoken against this kind of extremism. Exploiting race and religion for political expediency is not going to make the country progress. Without support from the outside world our economy will suffer. These extremists, apparently, do not understand this and they are giving a bad name to the country. The police have to act without fear or favour and ensure that extremism of this nature is never allowed to rear its ugly head.
What a paradox and contradiction:the headlines on the front page of today’s(31 Aug)NST:”Tear down the walls of disunity-Najib’s first National Day message. But his sidekicks in the name of Datuk Noh Omar, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and the Mr know-it-all of BN,Datuk Kayveas do not complement his statement in condemning the cow head incident. They however chose to put the blame for the demonstration on the PR govt of Selangor. And the NST plays the role of His Master’s Voice well. 1Malaysia indeed
I don’t think it right to call for illegal assembly and sedition to be thrown at the goons. We want those bad laws to be done away with, not enforced, even if impartially.
In so far as they threatened bloodshed, there must be a law against that.
But far, far better for other Muslims and, in particular, the teachers and leaders, to come out against this behaviour and the argument that because some location is 80% Muslim, then there can’t be temples or churches. If the same argument were to be applied impartially to say, Tg Bunga in Penang, then there would be no mosques. Indeed, there would be very few mosques in a state like Sarawak where non-Muslims make up about 3/4 of the population.
Incidentally, the temple in question was in the broad locality long before there was a Shah Alam. If anything, that temple is more native to the locality than many of the current residents who are immigrants from elsewhere in the country.
Finally, regarding drrafick in rights2write: While his sentiments are noble, I think the use of the term “Orang Ulu” is misguided and insensitive to the fact that there is a group of people in Sarawak who call themselves “Orang Ulu” and are very, very far from barbaric. If anything, they are almost the exact opposite — cultured, hospitable, tolerant. The goons that went on the demonstration are emphatically not “Orang Ulu”, they are urban thugs and bullies, and there are plenty of those around.