THE 'Allah' controversy has produced a 'milestone moment' in Malaysian politics, as ruling party Umno took a stance more extreme than even Islamist party Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), said Umno party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah yesterday.
'PAS is holding onto the more plural and moderate position while Umno is digging itself into an intolerant hardline position that has no parallel that I know of in the Muslim world,' he said.
Tengku Razaleigh's strongly worded speech was delivered at the luncheon address at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies' Regional Outlook Forum in Singapore.
In it, he highlighted the reversal of roles for Umno and PAS through their reactions to the 'Allah' controversy.
Umno had for years claimed to be the voice of moderate Malays, while PAS more often made the news for wanting to impose strict Islamic laws.
But when Malaysia's High Court recently ruled that Catholics could refer to God as 'Allah' in the Malay edition of the Herald, a weekly publication, it was PAS which said the usage was acceptable, as long as the word was not 'misused or abused'.
On the other hand, the Home Ministry filed an appeal against the ruling. It also won a stay of execution.
The court ruling had angered some in the Malay community. They believe that 'Allah' cannot be used to refer to any other religion's God, and that this ruling would confuse Muslims.
Tengku Razaleigh hit out at his own party for stoking racial and religious differences in Malaysia, for the sake of shoring up its Malay support base. Such moves would only alienate the party more from ordinary voters, he warned.
He also criticised the government for taking positions based on 'vague sensitivities' rather than principles.
The notion of 'sensitivities' is 'the favoured resort of the gutter politician', he noted. 'With it, he raises a mob, fans its resentment and helps it discover a growing list of other sensitivities. This is a road to ruin.'
The government, he feels, should be discussing the right thing to do - not talking about managing sentiments.
'It is about doing what is right rather than protecting arbitrary feelings. If feelings diverge from what is right and just, then it's time to show some leadership,' he said.
That includes not having double standards in handling demonstrations for different groups, such as allowing mass protests to be held in mosques today, he told The Straits Times in an interview after his speech.
Going forward, he feels the issue should be referred to the Council of Malay Rulers. Under the Constitution, all issues involving religion come under the council's purview.
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