Kj Gets Free Speech Defence But What About Comedian

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“If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of men, I will find something in them with which to hang them.
- Armand Jean du Plessis Richelieu
Former deputy law minister Hanipa Maidin, in his defence, of Khairy Jamaluddin’s free speech, quoted the House of Lords in Derbyshire CC v Times Newspaper Ltd.
It goes as follows: “It is of the highest public importance that a democratically elected government body, or indeed any governmental body, should be open to uninhibited public criticism.”
The quote is important for various reasons, but more importantly, it is a cogent defence of civil liberties and a bulwark against the excesses of the state.
Now, I have no issue with this defence no matter what I think of Khairy’s political speech or his past conduct as a minister and political operative.
What is galling to me is that nobody has come to Harith Iskander's defence when it comes to free speech even though we have political operatives and various apparatchiks of the government grandstanding on certain issues when it suits their political purposes.
Khairy JamaluddinOne of the individuals who made a police report against Harith said - “That is an insolent act and police should take stern action. Harith opened up the space for this issue to be ridiculed, and that is blatantly rude.”
Nowhere did Harith make fun of the religion of the state nor did he invite anyone to make fun of the religion of the state.
Indeed, what Harith was doing is satirising the rhetoric and diktats of religious operatives and here is the important part (see quote in Derbyshire) “any governmental body” that claims to be the gatekeepers of the religion of the state. And keep in mind he did not do this explicitly.
The intent behind Harith’s comedy was the reality that his faith could not be compromised simply because religious operatives and the state informed the rakyat that it could.
If anything, Harith’s comedy was exemplifying the better angels of his faith.
If Harith was not insulting his faith and not inviting others to do the same, what has this got to do with religion?
Religious gatekeepers
Well, Harith’s comedy was insulting to the gatekeepers of the religion of the state. It was insulting to the religious classes and those who supported them. It was insulting to the idea that faith is not an individual expression of belief but rather state-sanctioned mandates.
And of course, nobody in the political class is going to come to Harith’s defence for obvious reasons - even though the comedian has been the poster child for a New Malaysia and progressive politics for decades, and even though at various times in his career he has peddled state-sponsored apologia and propaganda.
Non-Muslim political operatives are afraid they would be accused of being anti-religion of the state and Muslim political operatives would be afraid of being termed “liberals”.
Those people who fear “liberalism”, however, they define it, in reality, fear the loss of power when empowered societies choose alternatives.
So yes, liberalism is a threat to any kind of religion the state preaches. Mind you the religious class may actually win in a “fair” democratic contest because that is one of the perils of democracy.
Beyond institutional safeguards, democracy is a risky endeavour, but I would take it to anything a theocracy has to offer.
Remember Sisters in Islam?
Keep in mind that in this country if you go against the religious establishment, you are deemed a “liberal”. After having lost at the Court of Appeal, Sisters in Islam is appealing to the Federal Court.
Keep in mind how the fatwa defined deviancy when it came to SIS – “SIS Forum, individuals, organisations and institutions adopting ideologies of liberalism and pluralism are deviant and against the teaching of Islam.”
Then, there are independent preachers like Wan Ji Wan Hussin who gained infamy for being sentenced for insulting the Selangor sultan, but was always considered a “deviant” especially when he criticised how the religious bureaucracy in this country operated.
Wan Ji Wan HussinHe triggers the religious class when he says something like: “I don't agree that only Islam can be propagated. The Federal Constitution states that, but I don't agree with it from the viewpoint of religion. Let the law practitioners debate if it’s from the law’s point of view.
“But as someone who studied religion, that statement is wrong. Non-Muslims should be given the right to give their views, as opposed to only the Muslims being able can do so. Maybe that's why people have accused me of being ‘liberal’.”
Remember the always-interesting, late Kassim Ahmad. To his admirers, the persecution of this public intellectual demonstrated the fear the state had of what he wrote and said, and this made him the poster child for the kind of Islam they believed was “acceptable” in a multiracial and multi-religious country like Malaysia.
The late Kassim AhmadTo his detractors, he was a purveyor of falsity that threatened Muslim solidarity and he was a puppet of the liberal West whose writings and speeches would cause the collapse of Malay/Muslim political and religious hegemony.
But Kassim was a devout Muslim who believed that his faith was hijacked by interpreters who had agendas of their own that were not compatible with his interpretation of what would lead to a liberated world.
And do not for one second believe that all these individuals or organisations are or were the liberal vanguard of this country.
They have advocated or dissented against causes which most "Western indoctrinated liberals" would be offended by.
What they are or were, are voices who dissented in their own ways against the religious class and the orthodoxy of the state. All of them were and are practising Muslims.
But what is most damaging about this, is the fact that the political and religious class would rather people believe that Harith somehow invited people to offend the religion of the state or had offended it rather than acknowledge that Harith was satirising the diktats of a religious governmental body or the religious class which should be open to debate and not immune to criticism or satire in a democratic country.
Does this pass for free speech in Madani? - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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