The temple row and the slippery slope we must avoid

Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (better known as Dr Maza) was recently quoted as expressing concern over what he called the Hindutva movement “terrorists” – people who, he said, kill, burn and brutally torture Muslims in India – and who he believes are now starting to operate in Malaysia.

Seriously, Dr Maza? Are you absolutely certain this movement is operating here? Have Muslims been killed? Have Hindus reacted without any provocation, or without some perception of threat on their part?

If there are cases like these, it almost always takes two to tango – whether it is in India with the persecution of Muslims, or in Pakistan and Bangladesh with the persecution of Hindus. Yes, Hindus too have been persecuted in those countries, just as Muslims have been in India. But that has rarely made the headlines here.

So, if we do not stop this cycle of madness with some rationality, Malaysia too will slide down this slippery, violent slope. We too will succumb to these mindless, knee-jerk reactions – trapped in perpetual cycles of fire, endlessly resorting to fighting fire with fire.

So I wonder – why now? What has changed in Malaysia, Dr Maza? Is it really because of Hindutva? Or is it extremist thinking, regardless of religion? Or are you encouraged to speak on the words of a few disgruntled politicians, preachers and influencers?

Flogging a dead horse

Today, the temple controversy has become like a horse that has been flogged to death, again and again – because some politicians, preachers and influencers have discovered that flogging it, resuscitating it, and flogging it again fits beautifully into an emotionally charged algorithm that wins them cheap popularity.

So, let’s put this into perspective and bring some reason and balance to the temple controversy.

Let’s try to put the shoe on the other foot. Say you were a Muslim citizen living in a Christian-dominated country, and the authorities told you they were going to demolish your mosques – places of worship that have stood on those same sites for three or four generations, long before there were even land demarcation laws.

What would your reaction be? If you could, you would surely seek options to negotiate, to find peaceful means to resolve the disagreement. Or you might want time to take the necessary steps to close a place of worship respectfully, or time to seek or appeal for alternative sites.

And while you waited, would you tolerate bulldozers in the night? Would you stand by and watch rabble-rousers calling for a ‘crusade’ against you and your faith?

Not Hindutva but human nature

As far as I know, Hindus in Malaysia – and I say this as a Hindu myself — have never really been known to be extremists. (Gangsters, yes, but that is another socioeconomic matter altogether.) They have never been known to offensively kill or attack Muslims for being Muslims, nor have they been known to force the conversion of minors into Hinduism, or to bulldoze a mosque without legal authority.

So if there have been attacks on certain individuals, it may not have been without provocation. They could be defensive mechanisms kicking in, regardless of which shoe one is wearing. That is not Hindutva. That is human nature.

Please, Mufti, do not put big words on these reactions. Because when you do, we will all be walking along a dangerous thin line from which we may never return.

You, Mufti, are not like some of our incompetent, petty politicians who know only how to fan small tribal fires – to enrage and provoke. They do not have the intelligence to unite and appeal to reason. Instead, they know only to incite, arouse and divide, in order to conquer their small army.

Frankly, Mufti, I thought you were different and that something better would come from you. You are learned and well-read. You know the fundamentals of your faith better than most.

You know that for every unkindness there is understanding and empathy, for every hatred there is love and charity, and behind almost every offence there is usually some kind of defence.

The language of the heart

Reaction is a choice. So let’s not bring hostility and hatred into Malaysia. We have never been like those countries – India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.

For almost a century, we have, for the most part, lived in harmony and understanding, side by side as neighbours, friends, colleagues and even as brothers and sisters in mixed families.

On the ground, away from politics, we have almost always spoken the same language of the heart – forgetting our biases, our prejudices and our hurtful labels.

This is what sets the people of Malaysia apart. So let’s teach the world how we do it here, where people of different ethnic backgrounds almost instinctively come together to help someone out of a sticky situation, regardless of colour, ethnicity or creed – whether it is a cat stuck in a tree, a road accident, a car caught in a tight parking space, or perhaps even the matter of our small, misplaced temples.

For every problem, there is always a more peaceful, intelligent and rational solution.

Our multiculturalism is the one thing that has made Malaysia one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I am sure, Mufti, that you have not forgotten that. So let’s not complicate our lives with more labels than we can deal with.

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