MACSA is concerned of speeches deemed downright Islamophobic made by several ministers and politicians of both divides.
Of recent is the statement made by the Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng implicating all Malaysian Muslims and potentially opening them to hatred, ridicule and contempt by other Malaysians. The Minister who is also a leader of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) had reportedly, in the midst of his contribution to recent debate on the possible emergence of a new political coalition, instigated non-Muslim Malaysians against their Muslim counterparts by alleging that a government dominated by Muslims would, among others, deny non-Muslim citizens their rights.
This is echoed by Gerakan President Datuk Dominic Lau, when on February 16th 2019 he had said that the competition between UMNO and PPBM to get support from PAS will push Malaysia to become an Islamic country and push for hudud agenda. PPBM is never known to push for a Hudud agenda.
Similarly, many were also baffled earlier by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (National Unity and Social Well-being) P. Waytha Moorthy who, in a dialogue forum organised by Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality (NICRE) in United Kingdom on 23rd January 2020 provided his official profile that contained baseless allegations such as unlawful demolition of Hindu temples as well as forced conversion of ethnic Indians to Islam. These allegations were a repeat from his interview with a Dutch broadcaster where he had allegedly said Hindu temples in Malaysia were demolished without reason by the authorities and where “many Hindus were forced to convert to Islam in order to work in government sectors”. He had so far failed to back up his allegations with any evidence.
Such Islamophobia from a high-ranking government Minister is uncalled for in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic nation upholding Islam as its religion pursuant to Article 3(1) of its Constitution. Moreover, such statements are bereft of respect and must be deemed as an attempt to manipulate racial and religious sentiments of non-Muslims using racial siege mindset narrative. They go beyond ordinary divisive politicking and in essence brings about a deep sense of distrust and prejudice among multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysians.
It is also all the more appalling how such Islamophobic statements are thriving and made openly in order to score political advantage amidst rising interracial and interreligious conflicts occurring in the supposedly era of Malaysia Baru.
MACSA stresses that racial incitement and hate speech using Islam as bogeyman, are contrary to various international as well as domestic human rights laws.
Internationally, hate speech including Islamophobia is against Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects against incitement to discrimination.
Further, Article 22(d) of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam states that it is not permitted to incite hatred or do anything that may amount to an incitement to any form of racial and religious discrimination while Article 22 of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration mandates that all forms of intolerance, discrimination and incitement of hatred based on religion and beliefs shall be eliminated.
The allegations made by Lim Guan Eng that a Malay and Muslim government would, among others, deny non-Muslim citizens the right to vote and deny their right to celebrate their religious festivals are made without any basis whatsoever and seek to generalize a community based on an isolated instance. This certainly amounts to intolerance, discrimination and incitement of hatred based on religion and belief as prohibited by the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
Article 20(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited while the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) which was ironically advocated by many with close or direct links to the Finance Minister’s own party, forbids any incitement to racial and religious hatred. It is ironic then that the Minister’s statement should contain the same kind of incitement that ICERD itself seeks to prohibit.
The international community views hate speech very seriously and the UN in its Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech states that the responsibility for combating the same must be placed at all levels of the community, whether governments, societies or the private sector and must start with individual women and men. It is also worth mentioning that the international body has also noted on various occasions that Islamophobic sentiments fuel the racial and religious genocide that are being perpetrated against Muslims within Palestine, Kashmir in India, Xinjiang in China and Arakan in Myanmar, among other places.
Within our domestic law, hate speech is also effectively prohibited by our constitution, Penal Code and Sedition Act 1948.
Based on the above, MACSA calls upon Mr Lim Guan Eng, P Waythamoorthy and Dominic Lau to retract their Islamophobic statements and apologise to all Malaysians for their utterance thereof. MACSA cautions that the constant invoking of racial siege mindset and scaremongering especially by any member of the cabinet endangers racial and religious harmony and must cease immediately. MACSA further calls upon the authorities to act on statements which, if not curbed, may yet escalate into another tragic incident recorded in the history of our country.
JOINT STATEMENT BY:
Lukman Sheriff Alias, Chairperson, the Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Process (MACSA)
Associate Professor Dr. Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar, President of The International Women’s Alliance for Family Institution and Quality Education (WAFIQ) and Co-Chairperson, MACSA.
The Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Process (MACSA) is a coalition of civil society organisations with the specific aim and object to look into, as well as advocate, human rights issues in Malaysia for the UPR Process.
