Pas May As Well Be In Madani Govt

---

“We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence. And faith is a conversation stopper.”
- Sam Harris
My contention is simple. PAS may as well be in the Madani government. What is PAS but the motherlode of bad ideas and political hypocrisy both of which Madani excels in.
We can talk about the deep reformasi roots that PAS and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim shared when he was first evicted from Umno paradise.
We can also talk about the prime minister’s ideological framework when he served under the old maverick. And of course, we can talk about how PAS and its brand of populism and canny use of social media has fuelled its political ascension. All of this misses the point.
The fact is that what Madani is doing is making it easier for PAS when it eventually takes over. We are not dealing with differing political ideologies here. What Muslim disunity has achieved is the suppression and dismantling of progressive ideas and personalities in the majority community.
Indeed, Madani has been doing PAS’ job of demonising progressive voices in the Malay-Muslim community. Anwar went so far as to contend that there were two forces dividing this country.
Prime Minister Anwar IbrahimHe said: “So, we are forced to face these two forces: on one side, there is Islamophobia, where Islam cannot be mentioned at all.
“On the other side, they are the only Islamic group, and everyone else is deviant, evil, and oppressive.”
This is what PAS always claims, right? That Islamophobia is rampant in this country.
In September, when there was a possibility that Madani was going to place Islamic Development Department (Jakim) officers in government agencies, this is what PAS said about the interfaith group which raised concerns about this issue and of course – the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).
“In both oppositions, the group clearly shows its Islamophobia, where every step taken to strengthen Islam in the country is construed as a threat to the rights and liberties of the non-Muslims in the country.
“PAS sees the MCCBCHST’s (the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism) stance as having serious repercussions and as a challenge to Muslims’ right to practise their religion in the country.”
The government has not repudiated the ideas of that "...Islamic group, and everyone else is deviant, evil, and oppressive,”, so what we have to understand is that the prime minister is speaking to the non-Muslims and bringing up the spectre of the “Green Wave”.
‘Cowardly Madani’
Madani was too cowardly to put forward an alternative Islamic narrative. Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when in power, played it both ways. He demonised PAS and allowed his bureaucracy to be shaped by religious forces which had deep roots in both the political Islam of PAS and whatever was shaping the Middle East back in the day.
Both PAS and Madani do not think that Malaysia is a secular country. This is what PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said -"Malaysia is not a secular country. If it was, why should DAP include ‘to fight for a secular country’ in its own manifesto?
"Islam is the official religion of the federation. Then there is the idea of Malaysian Malaysia. No Malay can accept the concept of equality."
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan ManAnd here is what the prime minister thinks of secularism - “Sometimes these politicians will say that if Anwar becomes prime minister then Islam will be ruined, secularism and communism will gain a foothold, and LGBT will be recognised.
“This is a delusion. Of course, it will not happen and God willing, under my administration, this is not going to happen,” the Malay Mail Online reported Anwar as saying.
Now, to be fair to the prime minister, he did define secularism here in a more “moderate way” - “There is no issue about complete separation of state and religion because Islam is the religion of the federation, but it is not a theocratic state where you can impose Islamic laws on everybody, including non-Muslims.”
Limited secularism?
Keep in mind that this moderate form of secularism does not apply to unilateral conversion or the banning of words, films and any other things that would offend the sensitivities of Muslims in this country.
Hence, to claim that Islamic imperatives would not be imposed on non-Muslims is complete horse manure. It certainly does not apply to the new media bill which nobody voted for because they are cowards and charlatans, but non-Muslims were told this bill was needed to maintain stability and of course "think of the children".
These days, it is Putrajaya who is pursuing the Federal Territories Mufti Bill which would radically transform the powers of the religious far right in this country. This is something that PAS dreams of. This is something the deep Islamic state has been preparing for.
The bill is best defined by Sisters in Islam – “The Mufti Bill, which grants unelected officials the power to legislate without transparency or due process, exemplifies the dangerous erosion of democratic principles and constitutional rights.
“Such laws risk undermining the fundamental freedoms of Malaysians, fostering a culture of control rather than empowerment, and silencing diverse perspectives crucial for a progressive society.”
Keep in mind that the bill comes on the heels of a recent Federal Court ruling which struck down 16 criminal syariah provisions in Kelantan.
The Federal Court ruling is perhaps one of the strongest rejections by the diminishing centre-right establishment of the theocratic agenda, pushed by political operatives like PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
Theocrats do not like pushback and when this happens, they stir the pot even more. What this Federal Court ruling has demonstrated is that there are still constraints from the federal government.
When people say the atmosphere is charged, what they are really saying is that the people against this Federal Court ruling are spooked.
Now isn't the mufti bill, something that PAS desires? Think about it this way. Can anyone point to overt differences in religious policies when it comes to PAS and the government?
When a PAS operative decided to ban lotto shops in Kedah, what was the response from the federal government? What was Madani’s response to the caning of syariah offences in Johor?
What was Madani's response to rainbow-coloured Swatch watches? What was Madani's response to the socks controversy? What was Madani’s response to unilateral conversion? What was Madani's response when Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh viciously attacked a non-Muslim member of its coalition?
In 2017, while still incarcerated and Hadi was on a rampage using Act 355 to stake the religious high ground, as reported in the press, Anwar was not against the idea merely that he had his own ideas about strengthening religious law in this country. We now know what those ideas are.
In times of economic uncertainty, it benefits PAS to portray itself as an outsider. It gets to point to a convenient scapegoat - the Chinese community by demonising the DAP and playing the victim card when it comes to the way this government persecutes its political rivals. In or out of government, PAS is getting exactly what it wants.
Rational Malaysians are merely getting a view of the shape of things to come. - 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.

---