sigh! ketuanan islam again!

on the ‘conversion to islam’ forum organised by the bar council, according to malaysiakini, it will proceed as planned…. however…

from the star:

Umno Youth exco member Datuk Pirdaus Ismail said the movement strongly opposed the Bar Council’s plan.

“Don’t play with fire! Don’t ever touch on religious and racial sentiments,” he said in a statement yesterday.

wow! "don’t play with fire!" a warning!

pirdaus, you mean "don’t ever touch on islam and malay’s sentiments", don’t you?

PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat questioned the Bar Council’s move to organise a forum that touched on Muslim sensitivities.

why is it always muslim sensitivities or malay sensitivities that you guys are concerned about?

the DPM also said an open forum could incite emotions among those with differing views.

“Forums on sensitive topics are best discussed in closed sessions,” he told reporters after the launch of VistaJet’s charter services into Asia via Subang airport and the opening of SkyPark FBO in Malaysia here yesterday.

there you go! the word ‘sensitive’ again. how come we must be sensitive to muslim but not the other way round? oh, because of ketuanan islam (superiority of islam), silly.

bernama reported that some NGOs are planning a demonstration and will issue a memorandum to protest against the forum. in response, bar council vice president, ragunath said that they had the right to do so and the bar council would not stop them
from submitting the memorandum or hold a demonstration.

see how cool and logical (and REALISTIC) ragunath was? true, everyone has a right to demonstrate. oh! did you hear me right? everyone? sorry lah, friends, the ‘everyone’ is only for umno members and muslim who demonstrate about islam (i didn’t say ALL muslim ok). haven’t you heard, just a few days ago, 4 hindraf members, who led about 100 hindraf supporters to demonstrate in front of KLCC, were detained? why were they detained? isn’t demonsration the rights of everyone? apparently not. do you think the police will detained anyone at tomorrow’s demonstration against the bar council’s forum? well, did they detained anyone during the umno protest in komtar in penang, just a week after the election?

today’s ‘conversion to islam’ forum organised by the bar council of course reminds us of the article 11 road-show forum 2 years ago (on the federal constitution). if you don’t remember, click on this link to refresh your memory. from that post, you’ll be able to read many other related posts. in that forum, demonstrators were there and they were singing the same old song – "don’t humiliate islam!", "don’t challenge malay’s rights!", "don’t touch on muslim sensitivities!" and so on.

why is it we can’t have an open dialogue that touch on islam… where, mind you, more than one of the speakers were/are muslim themselves? just because we do that, they fear we are challenging islam? man!! their faith must be shaky and not deep! oh another thing is because they think islam is superior (ketuanan islam) to all religions, thus nobody should talk/discuss/debate about islam!

well, even with explanation from the organisers – eg. article 11 forum 2 years ago, and now this forum by bar council, they had explained it so well, yet they were so against the forum. ragunath had said (from malaysiakini):

“The forum is not about conversion per se, as the Bar Council endorses the right of individuals to embrace Islam. Instead, the forum will address the ancillary issues that arise from such situations and will emphasis the need for laws, and a judicial system that protects everyone equally.

of course they were not convinced… because their hearts suddenly become ‘ragu ragu’ and they were scared of their faith being challenged, so they were going to demonstrate!! oh well, we are going to read/hear about some interesting news tomorrow.

here is the full report from malaysiakini:

——————————————-

‘Conversion’ forum goes ahead
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Aug 8, 08 12:26pm

The Bar Council’s half-day forum entitled ‘Conversion to Islam’ will proceed tomorrow as scheduled, said council vice-president K Ragunath.
MCPX

Although matters of faith and race are always sensitive and emotive, dialogues and discussions of the problems arising out of the Syariah and civil courts’ separate jurisdictions and issues “ancillary” to religious conversions are critical to their resolution, he said.

Speaking at a press conference at the council’s office in Kuala Lumpur, Ragunath said such forums are also necessary given the government’s reluctance to address the issues constructively and by including all the relevant stakeholders increase the probability of arriving at “a just and amicable solution”.

“Concerns of some quarters, including a number of cabinet ministers such as Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, (minister in charge of Islamic affairs) Ahmad Zaid Hamidi and various NGOs and PAS are noted.

“We reiterate that our concern is to address the issues of conflicts of laws facing families caught between the separate jurisdictions of civil and Syariah laws,” he added.

Address ancillary issues

Referring to strong demands lately for the forum to be cancelled in view of the sensitivity of the topics expected to be raised therein, Ragunath said such calls “troubled” the Bar Council.

ragunath kesavan bar council pc 080808 02Such calls – and claims that the forum will create “misunderstanding, anger and tension” – stand opposed to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s plea for more interfaith dialogues among Malaysians to promote and ensure religious harmony, he added.

Ragunath reiterated that the forum will not be questioning Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution which gives Syariah courts jurisdiction over Muslims, nor diminish Article 3 which explains Islam’s position.

“The forum is not about conversion per se, as the Bar Council endorses the right of individuals to embrace Islam. Instead, the forum will address the ancillary issues that arise from such situations and will emphasis the need for laws, and a judicial system that protects everyone equally.

“The way forward to resolving any dispute or issue is to firstly promote greater understanding of the views of all the parties involved. We accept and understand that matters relating to faith and race are always sensitive and emotive.

“However, regardless of the sensitivity, we must strive to move forward to achieve a just, fair and amicable solution to the problems faced by so many individuals. The stifling of debates, talks and discussions would be counter-productive and would only fuel hate, fear and insecurity within the affected communities,” he argued.

Describing Malaysian society as “mature and responsible,” Ragunath said “it wants to, and is ready to, exchange views in public, even difficult issues, in efforts to further strengthen national unity and foster interfaith harmony.”

“Discourse on issues confronting the nation cannot take place only at official levels, behind closed doors, but must be inclusive and involve the public and those whose lives are affected by them.

“Calls to halt discussions on any issue imply that there are aspects to those issues that the public does not have a right to know about, which is counter to the principles of the open, progressive and democratic society that we have evolved into.

“We believe that the continued suppression of open and respectful discourse, not public forums, that will cause tension and jeopardise national unity,” he added.

He also called for the government to do more by way of “constructive dialogue and meaningful debate.”

Come and air your views

Explaining that the issue of separate legal jurisdictions is not unique to Malaysia, Ragunath stated whenever there are two conflicting or differing views (on a legal matter), “we need to dialogue (on it) and create awareness.”

On the part of the council, Ragunath said it was taking the necessary precautions to ensure the dialogue takes place in a “controlled and constructive measure” and invited all – supporters and critics alike – to attend the forum and to air their views.

Even those intent on demonstrating tomorrow against the forum or submitting to the council a memorandum expressing their grievances with it, are welcome to do so, said Ragunath.

“If they’re sending a memorandum, we’ll accept the memorandum. If they want to demonstrate, that is their right to demonstrate – as long as it is peaceful,” he said further.

Among the speakers at the forum are director of the Institute of Islamic Understanding’s Center for Syariah Laws and Political Science Dr Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad and Syariah lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdullah.

Mohd Haniff represented the Federal Territory’s Islamic Religious Council in the case of R Subashini. K Shanmuga and Ravi Nekoo, who were counsel for Subashini and S Shamala, respectively, are also slated to speak.

The moderator will be Zarizana Abdul Aziz of the Women’s Centre for Change (WCC).

Ragunath said the only person to have pulled out as a speaker is former Syariah judge and currently the Federal Territory Islamic Department’s Syariah prosecutor Dr Mohd Naim Mokhtar. About 150 people are expected to be at the forum.

(for lots of other news on this topic, please visit beritamalaysia)