Media
Statement by Tony Pua, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Member of
Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 19 July 2013
For
those who are familiar with the antics of Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Member of
Parliament for Kota Belud and new Housing and Local Government Minister, he
will be the first in the House to stand up and concoct a reason to defend “why
the chicken cross the road?”
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| Ibrahim Ali |
However
his latest response as to why Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's urging to burn bibles
containing the word ‘Allah’ cannot be compared with the present case against
the sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee for insulting Muslims certainly takes
the cake.
Datuk Rahman
Dahlan argued that Ibrahim’s remark was merely to “correct the error of
printing the said bibles”, and hence “burning them was the proper thing to do”
just as Muslims burn copies of the Quran that have misprints.
He
further added that "what Ibrahim Ali said was normal”, but has been
“twisted”.
No
right-thinking Malaysian would believe the explanation that Ibrahim’s fiery and
emotional remark was just an innocent and virtuous attempt to “correct the
error of printing” in the bibles. And
even in the unlikely earth-shattering event that it was, that is no defence
against the current Sedition Act.
For
example in the landmark case of Public Prosecutor v Mark Koding, Justice Azmi
Kamaruddin in the course of his judgment said: “... It is immaterial whether
the accused intention or motive was honourable or evil when making the speech”
when finding the latter guilty of sedition.
All the judge has to do is to see whether the words are likely to create
disaffection against the government, the ruler or the people.
What
Datuk Rahman Dahlan has done is to defend the indefensible attempt by the
right-wing Perkasa leader, Ibrahim Ali in his attempt to incite Malays and
Muslims in the country to burn the holy books of Christians.
However,
in the case of the bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, better known as “Alvivi”,
who probably thought it was “funny” to ridicule fasting Muslims, “justice” was
meted out before those charged has an opportunity to defend themselves.
Make no
mistake, those found guilty must be punished accordingly and the acts of
insulting another’s religion is not acceptable.
However, in the case of Alvivi, they have been denied bail on the basis
that “both accused had a tendency to upload pictures that could arouse public
outrage”, making them guilty before their defence is called.
The
clear-cut double-standards in Malaysian prosecution system proves the hypocrisy
of “1Malaysia”, a slogan preached by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak
himself. It also makes a mockery of our
Federal Constitution which provides that all Malaysians are equal before the
law.
The fact
that Ibrahim Ali who the open and defiant call for bibles to be burnt was not
only left uncharged, but also now defended by the UMNO Minister, while summary punishment
was meted out to the blogging duo who carried out the tasteless prank confirms
that the Federal Government practices not “1Malaysia” but Malaysia for 1Race
and 1Religion.
Tony Pua
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