The harsh manner in which the authorities have chosen to deal with Ayah Pin and his followers is most distressing.

Is this crackdown really necessary? Why do we find it so hard to let people believe what they want to believe in? The last time I looked, the Federal Constitution guaranteed the freedom of religion. Why are Ayah Pin and his followers denied this fundamental liberty?

We need to accept the fact that people believe in all sorts of things. The mere fact that what some people believe in may appear strange is no reason to victimise or hound them. As long as a group is peaceful and not harming or inciting others, they should be left alone.

We should be matured enough to accept them as part of our cultural mosaic. Let people believe what they want to believe. We would be fooling ourselves if we chose to write off the mob attack on the Ayah Pin commune several days ago as the work of a few misguided individuals.

People sitting peacefully in their homes do not spontaneously rush out, form a mob and run around throwing Molotov cocktails and terrorising others. The mob action was a direct consequence of the way in which Ayah Pin has been demonised by the authorities and the media.

It is interesting to note that in the days following the attack, hardly any political leader has seen the need to come out with a statement condemning the criminal actions of the mob. It is as if once a group is declared deviant, they become less than human and lose whatever little rights they had as Malaysian citizens.

I hope that the authorities will take firm action against all persons who were part of the mob and against any others who instigated them to act in such a fascist way. It is important that political leaders send out a clear message that extrajudicial and vigilante violence is not going to be tolerated - no matter what the circumstances.

In the long run, we also need to seriously reconsider our approach towards religion. Are we too quick to criminalise those who do not accept our understanding of the transcendental? Would it hurt us as a nation if we were to be more tolerant of those who hold differing views?

The way in which we have dealt with Ayah Pin and his followers is a disgrace. All right thinking Malaysians should hang their heads in shame that in this day and age we, as a people, are capable of such intolerance. So much for us wanting to be a model of tolerance for others.