Nazri opens floodgates to religious hatred

Malaysiakini
May 18, 11

‘Does it mean we can all now make seditious and insensitive remarks without any repercussions? This has gone out of line.’

Nazri: No action against Ibrahim Ali

Roberts: De facto law minister Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz misses the point. Yes, it is true that hundreds of irresponsible bloggers of all colour and creed have made sensitive comments to hurt and inflame other communities. But they are individuals.

Perkasa is a registered organisation and Malay daily Utusan Malaysia is a licensed newspaper. Can they act in the same wanton abandon as irresponsible bloggers and tweeters?

Rape is rampant in Malaysia – do we want to condone it by saying that it is the norm? Corruption is rampant – shall we then legalise it? Drug addiction is widespread, shall we let it be and say it is the norm? Crime is widespread these days – shall we do nothing about it?

There will always be irresponsible individuals, but when institutions like Perkasa and a national daily act recklessly, then our society will really go down the drain, for these institutions represent our collective conscience and morality.

Black Mamba: I am shocked that the de facto law minister can come out with such a lame explanation like that. Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali did not tweet nor blog his warning to the Christians. He aroused religious sentiments in a public rally in front of a 150-strong crowd.

If you are prepared to condone such actions, be prepared for the consequences.

Hamisu: Does it mean we can all now make seditious and insensitive remarks without any repercussions? This has gone out of line. Now it appears that if something’s a norm, then there’s nothing wrong with it.

This appears to be the prevailing twisted logic of our de facto law minister. Crimes are the norm. Drug abuse has become the norm. Abandoning babies has become the norm. Domestic violence has become a norm. Does it mean everything is alright? What kind of minister is this?

Changeagent: What a weak and lame reasoning by the de facto law minister. Just because something is a Malaysian norm doesn’t mean that it has to be tolerated, not especially when it relates to matters as serious as religious extremism, creating racial tension and inciting social upheaval or violence.

That is why we have common laws to safeguard public order, security and civility. Anyone who breaches the law or commits an offence must be prosecuted, and it matters little whether the crime is considered a norm or not.

It seems that Nazri is extremely unqualified to hold onto his current portfolio ministership when he doesn’t even understand the basic functions of law in society. He is seriously out of his depth here.

Cannon: That’s how arrogant and defiant Umno is in standing up for its rabid mouthpiece. Other than practising tokenism, Umno refuses to share power with its BN ‘partners’, let alone turn over its power to another.

That’s why it violently resists the possibility of Pakatan taking over Putrajaya and, through Perkasa, threatens to spill the blood of Christians, if they should vote for the opposition. This gangsterism of Umno/Perkasa is a ‘norm’ Malaysians have to accept.

Nazri has made a mockery of PM Najib Razak’s moderation. The fact is, Umno will not accept a two-party system, which means that a vote for BN is a vote for Umno and for more of this nonsense – and worst.

If Umno should retain power, it will ensure that the two-party system will never take root. Umno will finish dismantling our system of checks and balances to safeguard its power. It’s vital for Malaysians to unite and vote out Umno in GE13 before it demolishes our democracy.

Alan Goh: Nazri says that it is the norm for everybody to make seditious remarks and the news media can print anything, and therefore no action will be taken against them.

Thank you, Nazri, for the clarification. But please ensure that this new interpretation of the law applies to everyone and not just Umnoputras, Ibrahim Ali and Utusan.

Anonymous_40a7: Nazri, from this second onwards, you and the government will be held responsible for all the abuse, torture, suffering, victimisation, injuries and death to the Christian community by the radicals and fanatics of Islam due to your insensitive and warped thinking. Remember – each blood dropped is on your hands now.

Tan Kim Keong: Nazri, if the need is there to prosecute all people accused of making seditious statements, then it has be to done. You are a lawyer. A felony is a felony. I believe you know this very well.

In a civil society, people who commit felonies do not go unpunished. Otherwise the authority will be deemed as condoning incitement of religious and racial hatred, as in the case of Ibrahim Ali.

So what is stopping you from charging Ibrahim Ali with making seditious statements against adherents of another religion?

Chipmunk: So what Nazri is saying is that since it is a “norm” in Malaysia, the door is open for all to criticise every other religion, and I believe, that includes Islam and the Muslims? Can Nazri issue a directive that we can now criticise the Malays as well?

The other races have been tolerant and have refrained from saying anything about Islam, but since it is a norm, as what Nazri said, I want to see if any action will be taken if the Malays were criticized.

Easyone: Don’t fall to Nazri’s trap. The moment DAP says something disputable, they will be put under the ISA. These lackeys cannot be trusted.

Anak Kedah: This moron and his handlers are trying to provoke a violent response to Perkasa’s verbal vomit so that they can use it as an excuse for Ops Lalang II.

They have been trying hard to decapitate Pakatan Rakyat’s leadership – Anwar Ibrahim with the sham Sodomy II trial, and now preparing the ground to round up the rest of Pakatan leaders with Ops Lalang II.

The Tarik: If making such sensitive statements is okay, then why do we have ISA and the Printing Presses and Publication Act?

If you are sincere, then scrap both these acts. Let all the newspapers in the country openly discuss the so-called sensitive issues. Let the Star, New Straits Times, Tamil Nesan and Sin Chew Daily report the scams and scandals that are being discussed only in the alternative media.

Let there be press freedom. Give Pakatan licence to start newspapers. Let our country’s press freedom index rise from the bottom.

Otherwise, Nazri, your comments are pure baloney. Otherwise you are practising selective persecution and are not fit to be the law minister. Otherwise you are a law minister only to protect the interests of Umno, Perkasa, and Utusan. And otherwise, your comments smack of stupid hypocrisy.

Solomon Moses: Very well, Nazri, you have opened the floodgates. I am calling on all level-headed Malaysians to declare ‘jihad’ against Umno and Perkasa, and all level-headed Malaysians, I am sure, will join this ‘jihad’.

Dood: Well, if they’re not going to take action against Ibrahim Ali for his very obviously dangerous threats, then why would there be any question of any action against what the pastors supposedly said?

Is it more dangerous to declare ‘jihad’ against another community or to declare a desire for a Christian PM (if that even happened)?

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10 Replies to “Nazri opens floodgates to religious hatred”

  1. Forget about arguing fair principles with Nazri. Its pointless. What is more important about his comments is what he feels and probably what the PM and the top UMNO leaders feel.

    There is actually a sentiment that its perfectly fine to let the likes of Perkasa and Ibrahim Ali shout as many crazies and wild statements that they want (but its not OK for everyone else). They think its perfectly fine for it to be unfair and better than actually antagonising the Perkasa and Ibrahim Alis which not only cost them votes but also will be messy after decades of entitlement.

    The likes of Nazri and UMNO leaders feel that it should be OK to the other communities so long as they don’t act on the extremist vitriol, that they should just put up with it so long as it does not turn into concrete action.

    The Problem with Nazri’s logic – ALL IT TAKES FOR EVIL TO SUCCEED IS FOR GOOD PEOPLE TO DO NOTHING..Its in the quran even in some for or other..

  2. Nazri is now past his shell life. If the law is not enforcible because what the law prohibits becomes a norm in the society, then that law should be removed.

    The bloggers and twitters are not widely known and what they write is known only to those who click on the pages. But Ibrahim Ali is the President of Perkasa and he is seen with Mamakthir who is the patron of Perkasa. They are public figures. If the public figures are allowed to call for violence and terrorism, and yet the government does nothing, then it would only mean that the government has no means to stop these public figures doing the violent campaign. But there exist laws; ISA which should prevent people committing terrorism and can very well keep Ibrahim Ali in custody, and Sedition Act on which the police can utilize to charge Ibrahim Ali him in court. If the government chooses to do nothing, and announces that nothing can be done, then Malaysia is now in a state of anarchism because the government serves no useful purposes. Otherwise, the laws, which should have been used to act against Ibrahim Ali, should all be abolished.

    But UMNO practises double standards. The Home Minister and the police would make any opposition party member or non-member of UMNO face the full force of the law should he even pray in private for what Ibrahim Ali announced in public.

    UMNO is that arrogant. The 13th Election should send UMNO packing, and moderates as Najib wished while speaking outside the country should then take over.

  3. ///But while one man standing in the road is a nuisance, a mere distraction, 10 men standing together are far harder to ignore. And if those 10 become 100, a thousand, a million, a billion even, they become a force so big, so strong and so united in their common cause that those who espouse hatred will face a very simple choice.///–Najib speaking in Oxford

    Does Najib belong to the one man opposing terrorism and extremism in Malaysia?

    Is Nazri is the man who needed a million Malaysians to oppose? But Nazri is a UMNO member and Najib is the President. What good is the position of presidency when his member openly opposes his philosophy? Would Najib tell the world that when he is not in the country, he does not speak UMNO ideology?

  4. Just ask Nazri whether what he said is IMPARTIAL? Does it work the other way round? What if a non-Muslim, a non-Malay make this same statement? Will Nazri still say NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN??????? What an idiot we have for a MINISTER!!!

  5. ///Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Edmund Burke, the philosopher, was quoted to have said, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

    Our choice is clear. Come together in action for a future of justice, freedom, hope, compassion and goodwill for our children or it will be replaced by a future of injustice, tyranny, hopelessness, cruelty and hate.///–Najib speaking in Oxford

    Najib knows very well that NEP promotes for some Malaysians a future of injustice, hopelessness, cruelty and hate. NEP was initiated by Tun Razak his late father. najib saw it fit to donate 15 million ringgit to Oxford for Razak Foundation to honour his father, it would be more fitting to remove the sins perpetrated in Malaysia in his name through NEP.

    Over the past four decades, more than two million Malaysians chose to leave Malaysian shores to avoid the future of injustice under NEP. We do not need millions to oppose NEP if Najib would respect and practise justice. He should remove NEP on which opportunists in UMNO line their pockets and Tun Razak bears the sin.

  6. How far have we gone?…loosing our way to a peaceful country.
    When I was a young man, Tuanku Abdul Rahman (ex-PM deceased) fought the white South Africa
    apartheid govt of their policies in the Commonwealth…calling for them to be suspended.
    How proud we were. That was UMNO A, see the difference with a mamak ex-PM, for 22 years he singularly dismantled the harmonious Malaysian society out of his greed and his racial evil mentality . the damage he did this beloved country of ours will almost be unsolvable. That racist scumbag should bury his bloody face in shame!!

  7. If Ibrahim is a Pakatan person, would Nazri’s comments remain the same??? He will most definitely be detained under ISA now. Nazri’s comments are clear indications that BN is engineering reasons to justify Ibrahim’s acts. Just like a rapist who blames it on his weakness to control his sexual urge and so for that, should not be punished!

    His comments will further stroke and inflame the racial sentiments in the country and may even lay the seeds for a racial riot. Nazri, like Hisham, is clearly not qualified to be a Minister. The very persons who are supposed to protect the citizens with law and order are the very persons who are causing problems.

    And, why is the PM so silent on this? Is it not time for him to make a stand in public? Why are extremist views dominating the moderates who forms the majority? Why is MCA, MIC and Gerakan also so silent on this issue? And MCA dare say that the Chinese community needs Chinese representation in the government. Perhaps they need Chinese supports as a leverage for more personal gains.

    Individual’s comments can be ignored because the influence on the masses is minimal and they do not have the clout to do so. Perkasa is a whole different ball game. It is an institution. It has influence especially when supported by the govt mouthpiece, Utusan. It has networks that can be mobilized to carry out its threats. So, Nazri, even a commoner with a little bit of common sense can see that.

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