MAY 4 — Malaysians are taken aback with disbelief to learn that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has no plans to prosecute two Muslim converts for allegedly insulting non-Islamic faiths.
We are told that the AGC was unwilling to prosecute Perlis-based preacher Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu and Multiracial Reverted Muslims founder and president Firdaus Wong Wai Hung as police had classified their cases as “no further action (NFA).”
It is very strange that the AGC should take instructions from the police. Normally, it is the other way around. There have been cases when the AG had returned the files to the police, instructing them to investigate further.
Strangely, in spite of a thousand police reports having been made against these hate-preachers, the AG meekly accepts the police decision to close the case. A thousand reports mean nothing at all? Don’t they have any impact? Isn’t it obvious that thousands of people are upset, enraged and outraged?
Compare this to other cases, when one or two police reports were made, the police have sprung to action to preserve our peace and harmony.
If some stupid idiot insults Islam — quick action is taken — as it should be — to safeguard our unity and peaceful way of life. This is how it should be. The same concern should have come to play in this instance and immediate action should have been taken when any other faith is ridiculed and condemned.
But in this case, two converted preachers have disparaged other faiths foolishly and flagrantly; a thousand reports were made against them; yet their case was put aside without any action. How could that be?
This is blatant, this is outrageous. Roger Staubach is right in stating that “Discrimination is a disease.” Unfortunately, we have been inflicted with this disease for decades. There is no vaccine yet to get rid of this from our political system.
Can the AG honestly tell us that these two rogue preachers have not committed any crime when they insulted other faiths? Does he think that these hate preachers were right in insulting the other faiths? Can he tell us that there are no laws to prosecute them?
Why the disparity in this instance? What happened to the entrenched guarantee under the constitution which confers equal treatment for all?
Every citizen is equal as far as the Federal Constitution is concerned. They should receive equal treatment without any discrimination. But scant respect is given to this provision because apparently bigots and zealots are in power.
The political leadership must have the courage, the political will and the integrity to face up to this evil policy of discrimination and ensure that justice will prevail for everyone irrespective of their colour and creed.
Is this asking too much?
Perhaps, it is, as Wayne Gerard Trotman observed, “As long as there is racial privilege, racism will never end.”
*P. Ramakrishnan is a former president of Aliran.
**This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
