The perils of speaking out against Islamic law in Malaysia

BBC | RakyatTimes

A satirical video has exposed the sensitivity over Islamic law in Malaysia – as well as the limits of online speech in the country.

It was supposed to be a light-hearted poke at proposals to expand Islamic law in one state in Malaysia. But a video starring journalist Aisyah Tajuddin resulted in death and rape threats along with a police investigation.

It all began when the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (known by its Malay acronym PAS) proposed implementing hudud laws on Muslims in Kelantan, a mostly rural state in the northeast of the country.

Hudud laws cover prohibitions against things such as adultery, apostasy, robbery and theft, and prescribe punishments considered cruel or unusual in most Western countries: public beatings, stoning, amputation and public execution. They’re also relatively uncommon in most Muslim nations with the exception of those such as Saudi Arabia or Iran which follow the most strict interpretations of Islamic sharia law.

Aisyah, a journalist with independent radio station BFM, mocked the party in a video titled “Hudud: A Rice Bowl Issue”. As she crosses an imaginary border into Kelantan, a headscarf appears on her head. Finding a rock instead of rice in a packet of food, she tosses it away and shrugs, saying “Oh well, we have hudud, don’t we?” and giving an ironic thumbs up. Her point? That instead of Islamic law, the PAS should be more concerned with issues such as the economy and reconstruction after severe floods in the region.

BFM Radio removed the video from its YouTube page the day after it was posted, but not before it went viral and was copied and pasted elsewhere on Facebook and YouTube. On just two of the more popular Facebook pages it has been viewed more than 780,000 times in total.

But along with the viral hit though came a huge backlash. One particularly threatening thread on Facebook started with the comment: “Those who insult the laws of Allah, their blood is halal for killing.” Others came to the journalist’s defence. “Making you feel offended means you can rape and kill that person….brother, do you think you need to do some self reflection and soul searching..?” commented Chiam Soon King on the Sisters In Islam Facebook page.

But some said the video was wrong even as they condemned the threats levelled at Aisyah. “It’s still wrong to make a death threat or rape or all those barbaric acts, my point is she crossed the line and should share the blame as well. Think first,” said Wan Kori.

Threats are not the end of it for the journalist – Aisyah is now being investigated by police for blasphemy, and could face up to a year in jail if convicted.

Sedition Act

Aisyah wasn’t the only person to get caught up in the controversy. The issue touched off a row online between lawyer and activist Michelle Yesudas and the country’s top policeman, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar.

In a series of messages, Yesudas demanded to know what Khalid would do about the threats against Aisyah. “Because I am positively terrified that these crazy, rape-frenzied people are actually the majority in my country,” she wrote.

No, I am serious @KBAB51 , you've arrested TONS of people for having an opinion, so are you going to investigate people for threatening rape

— Michelle Yesudas (@chelle_yesudas) March 20, 2015

so are you going to issue orders to arrest those threatening Aisyah Tajudin with rape and death? @KBAB51 Are you going to act speedily?

— Michelle Yesudas (@chelle_yesudas) March 20, 2015

Khalid’s response was to pull Yesudas into police headquarters for questioning under Malaysia’s colonial-era Sedition Act.

Mohon @chelle_yesudas jelas kan kpd @PDRMsia, apa yg dimaksudkan dgn tweet di bawah, jgn timbul kan keresahan Rakyat pic.twitter.com/pKOCCFzdlD

— Khalid Abu Bakar (@KBAB51) March 23, 2015

Human rights groups have criticised the Malaysian police’s use of the act to crack down on those critical of the government. Twenty-nine people have been arrested or investigated under the law so far in 2015, compared to 23 in the whole of 2014, according to Amnesty International.

Khalid himself has tweeted that police take comments critical of Islam seriouslyand “had no choice” but to act against them. Previously he warned Malaysians: “Be careful about speaking about something. Don’t speak words that will invite @PDRMsia [the police] to take action. Dare to speak, dare to face the consequences.”

Human Rights Watch’s Asia deputy director, Phil Robertson, has said Khalid “patrols the Twittersphere like a shark in open water“, and opposition politicians have accused him of selective prosecution. Khalid has denied the accusations.

As for the implementation of hudud law – it’s actually very unlikely. Kelantan’s state assembly has approved the proposals, but it’s doubtful that PAS has enough support to gain parliamentary approval. – BBC Trending

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Malaysia – Who can save our country? – Nawawi Mohamad

Malaysian Insider

With Datuk Seri Najib Razak as prime minister, our country’s funds are going down the drain and the government is spending our money like nobody’s business. This is because it is neither his money nor his inheritance! Surely he would think twice when spending his own money and his inheritance.

But the main reason why Najib has a free hand on spending our money is because there are still many people, especially the voters, who continue voting Umno/BN into power, in every general election, 13 GEs so far!

Of course, they are in the minority but somehow with some manipulation under the veil of democracy, Umno/BN managed to stay in power.

Knowing that the Umno/BN is a minority government, Najib has been quick to consolidate power by empowering his sycophants, from the civil service, within the government and outside. And getting support from a few members of the opposition has been a huge bonus to his power. Thus, Najib is now almost invincible.

Now, who can challenge Najib? So far there is nobody who can stop Najib from ruining the country. There have been criticisms by many influential and prominent people with the most powerful being Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who needs no introduction, yet nothing has changed and Najib keeps on spending and wasting our money.

The problem with those criticising Najib is that most of them are no better than him. Najib can always reply back to his critics, “Look, who is talking!”

Najib has no sincere intention to improve things in the country. Whatever transformation initiatives are nowhere really successful physically and many have failed. Of course, on paper everything is fine and Malaysians are living in heaven.

Najib is only playing a sandiwara all along for the foolish people to watch and be entertained. The 48.6% of them had been had and the most pathetic thing about them is that they do not realise that they had been had.

But one thing is sure, Najib would never let his wife down and will always make her happy. Or rather Najib has to make his wife happy because she can do a lot of damage to him.

What about the opposition? Is the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) still relevant? Unfortunately for the 51.4% voters who voted for PR, you have been had too.

Just watch the destruction of PR day by day. PR leader are simply foolish and hopeless. They are like the marathon runners who ultimately managed to be at the front of the race yet after reaching just a few meters to the end of the race; they start to hit each other ensuring that none of them would cross the finishing line.

Forget opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim because as much as his supporters wish him to be free and continue leading PR, Najib would not want him to be free and revive his political life. Get someone else to lead.

As for PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, he has his own agenda and not necessarily in the best interest of the country and the people.

Lately, Lim Kit Siang has been ridiculous. When it is the democratic right for PAS to table the hudud enactment in Kelantan and Parliament, why is LKS making so much noise? Let PAS table it and wait and see, if not Umno, the numbers will sum up the answer.

If LKS is worried on the hudud being imposed on non-Muslims as reported, the Amended Kelantan Hudud Act 2015 has clearly stated that it is only applicable to Muslims. By the way, why is LKS so worried as if the 28 million of us are hardcore criminals.

So with nobody to remove Najib from power, all the efforts to remove him have failed, the opposition leaders are hopeless, the 48.6% voters unaware of anything and the remaining 51.4% being let down by the PR, who can save Malaysia from the incompetent Najib? – March 25, 2015.

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