.jpg)
PUTRAJAYA – Tolerance and the willingness to understand other races and religions are values that religious preachers should evangelise instead of inciting racial and religious persecution and hatred, a Sarawak-based non-government organisation (NGO) said today.
Kindy Nyadang, a committee member of the Terabai Menua Sarawakian community NGO and a Dayak himself, lamented how religious preachers only make themselves appear ignorant when they assert inaccuracies about other cultures and races to their followers, instead of preaching about the religion’s actual values.
He said those such as Ustaz Syakir Nasoha, who has long been condemned by non-Muslims for preaching inciteful sermons to his followers, should instead get their facts right about other cultures and races within Malaysia instead of making generalisations, especially when it concerns those in Sabah and Sarawak.
“One has to understand that us Dayaks are not only made up of Christians; there are those of us who are Muslims as well. The same goes for Dayaks in Indonesia and other neighbouring countries.
“So, to those like Ustaz Syakir Nasoha, or anyone else, before preaching or commenting on the Dayaks, understand that there are many different tribes among us.
“When you mention Dayak, it also affects the Iban, the Kadazan, Kelabit, Murut, Melanau, and such.
“If I, who have been living in Kuala Lumpur for 26 years, can learn to understand and respect the cultures and beliefs of others, why can’t they respect mine?” he asked.
Be fair, activist urges authorities
Kindy, 39, also complained about the seemingly partial reactions from authorities when it concerns religiously charged insults.
He claimed that action usually is only taken against those going against Islam, and not the other way around.
“If it was a case of a non-Muslim insulting Islam, I think the perpetrator would be arrested within two hours, and there has been many such cases. And I am only talking about those in Sarawak.
“Regardless of their race or religion, if they are wrong, they are wrong. Authorities need to be fair, regardless of the culprit’s race or religion,” he said.
Kindy made these comments outside the Prime Minister’s Office this afternoon, as a fellow representative of the 63 NGOs represented by the Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF), who handed over three memorandums to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
Among demands listed were Ismail Sabri’s intervention and for him to order action against those the group had labelled as rogue religious preachers for allegedly insulting non-Muslim faiths and inciting hatred among communities.
Their memorandum also ultimately seeks for the government to table a Racial and Religious Hatred Bill in Parliament, which would allow those making any statement deemed as hate speech directed at a particular race or religion to be prosecuted.
As explained by GHRF president S. Shashi Kumar, the memorandum also seeks the prime minister to take stern action against those performing unilateral conversions on underage children.
They are also requesting the government to set in place an independent body to oversee conversions into Islam, and for strict laws and guidelines to be drafted and enforced to avoid such conversions being done covertly.
Unilateral conversions ‘morally, religiously incorrect’: Muslim convert
Speaking at the impromptu press conference was a convert identified as Khairul Nizam, who, similar to Kindy, expressed his regrets at how those of non-Muslim faiths are constantly being belittled and insulted.
Khairul explained that there was nothing wrong with those willingly converting to Islam, but asserted that it is morally and religiously incorrect to force Islam onto children – even more so if it is done unilaterally.
He said religious preachers or religious institutions performing these unilateral conversions on children should be more particular about their background and who the children’s parents are instead of blindly forcing them to embrace the religion.
“If children want to convert, these religious authorities should look into their backgrounds and get the parents’ approval first. Do not convert them without their approval.
“Do not allow our mistakes to become the reason Islam is insulted and persecuted by others,” he said.
Khairul then called for political and racial stability within Malaysia, saying those were the values that ultimately convinced him to embrace Islam decades ago.
“I converted to Islam for its peaceful and tolerant approach, for the beauty within its religious teachings, and I cannot accept what is happening in Malaysia now.
“When I was younger, there were never such issues. I could just walk into any of my neighbours’ homes, whether Chinese, Indian, or Malay, and help myself to the food.
“Now if I do that, I might get called a k****g and later chased out of the house,” he quipped.
Allow EPF withdrawals
A third memorandum was also handed over to the prime minister by GHRF, with pleas for the government to allow Malaysians to perform withdrawals from their Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) accounts.
Shashi said numbers from the Statistics Department showed how more than 700,000 people have lost their jobs due to the economic effects of the pandemic, with almost 40,000 businesses going bust.
He said there were also more than 77,000 cases of divorce recorded during the pandemic, along with an increase in domestic violence cases.
“All of these occurrences are said to be caused by emotional pressure, stress, and depression, which were triggered by them losing their sources of income, or had their careers halted.
“Furthermore, there are those forced to borrow money from illegal money lenders and loan sharks, adding on to their burden and stress, with some driven to pawn their life savings in jewellery,” he said.
Shashi then called for the government to allow some leeway for those with adequate amounts of cash within their EPF accounts to withdraw some of the funds to cover basic living expenses.
He proposed contributors be given the option to withdraw, as long as their balances do not dip below RM50,000, while the government also works out solutions for those with close to nothing left in their EPF accounts, on ways they can contribute to the fund.
“There has to be a mechanism from the government to ease the financial burden of the people during such difficult and uncertain times,” Shashi said.
He added that today is the second time GHRF is handing over its memorandums to the prime minister, the first being on October 24, 2018, with no official response given to them since.
Recently, the GHRF had made similar demands through memorandums submitted to the Federal Islamic Affairs Agency (Jakim), demanding action be taken by the religious authority against rogue preachers and those inciting hate against non-Muslim faiths.
To date, Shashi said there has been no reply from Jakim. – The Vibes, February 16, 2022
