KL must reconsider interfaith talks<\/p>\n
P. Ramasamy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, The Straits Times,
\nAsia News Network, Singapore<\/p>\n
Being a multi-racial and multi-religious country, Malaysia
\ncannot take for granted that relations between different
\nreligious groups would continue without major problems.<\/p>\n
Recently, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad
\ncommented that although he was personally not against the idea of
\nhaving inter-religious dialog in Malaysia, Muslims, in general,
\nwere still quite apprehensive about engaging in formal dialogs
\nwith members of other faiths in the country.<\/p>\n
Dr Mahathir did not elaborate on the reasons for this, but it
\nis clear that the official position enjoyed by Islam, its
\nconstant use as a political rallying point for Malays and the
\napparent perspective that other faiths are second to Islam have
\ncontributed to this state of affairs.<\/p>\n
The absence of inter-faith dialog seems to be related to the
\nway politics has taken root in the country over the past four
\ndecades or so.<\/p>\n
In the earlier decades, it was not so much religion that
\noccupied the minds of Malaysians but rather ethnic differences
\nbetween Malays and non-Malays.<\/p>\n
During the independence and post-independence periods, the
\nruling government sought to organize and institutionalize
\npolitics in such a manner as to give priority to Malay concerns.
\nGiven this, it was natural to expect the polarization of politics
\nalong ethnic lines.<\/p>\n
However, in the last two decades or so, Malay concerns have
\nembraced the component of religion -- that is, the need to
\nprioritize Islam in the country, its significance as a political
\nrallying point for Malay-based political parties and, more
\nimportantly, the effort on the part of UMNO to infuse Islamic
\nvalues in the country's administration.<\/p>\n
While non-Malays were able to deal with the ethnic politics of
\nMalays, they found it difficult to deal with the Islamic issue.
\nMore particularly, the competition between UMNO and Parti Islam
\nSeMalaysia (PAS) served to introduce Islam as a conflictual
\ndimension in the relationship between Malays and non-Malays.<\/p>\n
The government's effort to introduce Islamic elements in the
\nsociety and special privileges for Muslims\/Malays, set up Islamic
\ninstitutions in both the private and public sectors, and put in
\nplace restrictions on non-Muslim cultural and religious practices
\nhave alarmed non-Muslims in the country.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, PAS' recent call to set up an Islamic state and
\nthe countermove made by Dr Mahathir to declare Malaysia an
\nIslamic state have raised anxieties among non-Muslims.<\/p>\n
Thus, given this context, it is not surprising why Muslims in
\ngeneral would be opposed to having meaningful inter-religious
\ndialog with their non-Muslim counterparts.<\/p>\n
Given the hegemonic role of Islam vis-a-vis other religions,
\ninter-religious dialog might give the appearance that Islam is
\non par with other religious faiths. This is something the
\ngovernment would want to avoid as it has played a major role in
\nthe Islamisation of society.<\/p>\n
So, if the government is seen to promote this kind of
\ndialog, it might be interpreted by the opposition parties and
\nothers that it is not serious about the pre-eminent status of
\nIslam.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, the call for such a dialog might provide
\nammunition for parties like PAS to go on a road-show to expose
\nUMNO's lack of sincerity and commitment in promoting Islam.<\/p>\n
Since Malaysia has been declared an Islamic state recently,
\nmoves to have dialogs with other religious communities might
\nserve to contradict the government's stand.<\/p>\n
In this respect, Dr Mahathir might not be exactly correct to
\nsay Muslims in the country are not prepared to have dialogs and
\nthat it might take some time for them to be so.<\/p>\n
The real obstacle that stands in the way of inter-faith
\ndialog is the government. Since the present nature of racial
\nand religious politics tends to favor those in the government,
\none can expect very little from it to change the contours of
\nnational politics.<\/p>\n
Even if the formalization of inter-religious dialog might take
\nsome time, surely, the government should initiate such activities
\nto promote racial and religious integration. What is more, the
\nwar on terrorism has provided concrete indications that religious
\nextremism is counter-productive as it is organized along
\nexclusive lines.<\/p>\n
As Malaysia has taken a strong stand against terrorism in
\ngeneral, there is a need for it to promote some kind of religious
\npluralism among the masses.<\/p>\n
Given the strong position of the government, without the
\nnecessary political will, societal forces might not be capable of
\ninitiating such a dialog.<\/p>\n
There is need for a strong push from the government. It is
\nfully aware of the fragile nature of ethnic and religious
\nrelationships in the country.<\/p>\n
So, rather than saying that Malaysians are not ready for a
\ndialog, the government should look seriously into the issue of
\nformalizing and institutionalizing dialogs between different
\ncommunities.<\/p>\n
Time is not on the side of those who adopt a wait-and-see
\nattitude.<\/p>",
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