The Malaysian Insider

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 14 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak told foreign diplomats here tonight that he was committed to promoting Malaysia as a model Islamic country with multicultural tolerance.

The prime minister stressed that Malaysia could still be a symbol of Islam and tolerance in the world because of the country’s multi-religious make-up.

His remarks tonight come amid concerns about the heightening levels of religious intolerance in past months.

Recent incidents such as the brandishing of a cow’s head by Muslims protesting against a Hindu temple and the sentencing of a Malay-Muslim woman to caning for consuming beer had sparked an outcry.

The incidents have placed the country under the spotlight over the encroachment of Islamic fundamentalism into the broader, secular Malaysian society.

“There is a special niche that we have which is to promote a better understanding of what Islam is all about and our belief that inter-faith dialogue is a very important part of promoting greater understanding,” he told foreign dignitaries at a breaking of fast function organised by the Foreign Ministry.

He added that being fair to Muslims and non-Muslims alike was not a matter of choice but was “God’s calling.”

“In the Quran, God tells us that for us to be closer to God, we have to be fair,” he said.

Najib also explained that tolerance was enshrined in the concept of 1 Malaysia, which asks Malaysians to fair and just to all.

“If all of us, all Malaysians join together, whether Muslims or non-Muslims, then this concept of togetherness as one creed, one people, one Malaysia will propel us to greater heights and prestige,” he said.

A group, claiming to be Muslim residents of Section 23 in Shah Alam, the new site of a Hindu temple, held a demonstration outside the Selangor state secretariat recently, dragging a severed cow-head, — an animal sacred in Hinduism — which they stomped on and spat at under the gaze of riot police.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein initially defended and justified the cow-head demonstration after meeting with Malay-Muslim representatives of Shah Alam’s Section 23 at his office but changed his stand after he came under heavy criticism from Pakatan Rakyat and the public.

In a second incident, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was caught drinking beer in Cherating, Pahang, two years ago.

The mother of two was fined RM5,000 and sentenced to six lashes of the rotan. She refused to file an appeal.

Kartika will be the first woman to be sentenced to caning under the country’s Islamic laws.

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