Those wanting to find out more about the much discussed plan to implement hudud laws in the state of Terengganu should be kicking themselves if they missed Monday night's discussion forum at the Keadilan information centre in Shah Alam, Selangor.

The title of the discussion or seminar " Undang-undang syariah  it's been declassified. )

The proceedings kicked off at 9pm to a packed house of about 200 many of whom had just finished dinner at the mamak restaurant downstairs.

Hint of long-term campaign

Yang Berbahagia (and hopefully Yang Berhormat in the not too distant future, mentioned Wan Muttalib later), Azmi started the ball rolling by saying that he had been waiting a long time for the implementation of hudud in Malaysia and that he was glad that the Terengganu government was finally carrying this out.

In his soft-spoken manner, he outlined six main elements which the syariah law aims to preserve and protect  which discriminates against non-Muslims and women. For example, would an Indian couple whose house was robbed be allowed to be witnesses?

As a political strategy, this might be suitable on a local level in Terengganu and Kelantan but the BA leader urged PAS to consider this strategy on a national level, as this would alienate non-Muslim support for PAS and the BA.

After that, another non-Muslim BA component party leader raised again the issues of fairness and consistency of the hudud bill vis-a-vis the constitution.

An interesting illustration given was that even if a doctor wanted to amputate a patient's leg, he would need to ask permission from the patient alluding to the need for PAS to consider national sentiment on this issue and not just take into account local considerations.

Another respondent asked if PAS ever came into power, would they allow other non-Muslim religious-based parties to be set up and also for them to institute their own laws and regulations.

The last two respondents from the floor were from a local human rights group. This first respondent brought up an important point that the promotion of human rights does not mean that criminals would go free and everyone would do as they please, which was the perception that the PAS leaders seem to have in regards to human rights.

The second respondent asked for the two systems, the syariah and the civil courts, to be compared and evaluated so that the better system could be chosen.

Amendments

Wan Mutalib responded by stating that the latest draft of the bill had replaced the word rogol (rape) with the word zina such that rape cases would still be tried under the criminal courts and that the syariah courts would only include zina offences.

Hadi explained that the rationale for not having women witness was because they wanted to protect the reputation and safety of women. And they could not take out too much time for witness duty because they would neglect their household duties.

But there are cases where a woman's testimony can be accepted for example where a rape occurs in an all-women hostel.

Non-Muslim witnesses (male and female) are relieved of witness duty because they do not understand the retribution a Muslim would receive in the afterlife if he or she lied in court. By implication, it seems that non-Muslims of other religions are more likely to lie or cannot be relied on to give the truth.

But again, Hadi concedes that non-Muslims from other religions who are reputable and who follow their own religions closely can be allowed to be witnesses.

These two exceptions (for women and non-Muslims) seem to be absent from the hudud bill being tabled.

Hadi also said PAS would allow the establishment of religious-based parties but was silent on the issue of whether they would be allowed to institute their own laws and regulations.

Final analysis

It is commendable that representatives from PAS no less than the Terengganu menteri besar and de facto PAS president attended this discussion forum with the intention of explaining the hudud position to non-Muslims and women's groups.

The panelists were open to many of the difficult questions asked and unfavorable comments made.

Hadi impressed with his flowing speeches, his command of the Arabic language, his many anecdotes and illustration and his conviction in his actions and the actions of his party.

It was also encouraging to see the concern of many non-Muslims in regards to the tabling of the hudud laws.

But as much as I would like to be open-minded and trusting of the good intentions of the PAS government in trying to introduce the hudud laws, I have to say that I am yet to be convinced.

The attitude shown towards non-Muslims and women still leaves much to be desired. The verbal concessions made by Hadi are not clearly stated in the draft paper of the hudud bill to be tabled.

The perception of the 'worth' of non-Muslim and women as witnesses seem to hint at a slippery downward slope towards making non-Muslims and women second-class citizens.

The obvious neglect of the constitutional framework in which we live in was also disturbing from a non-Muslim perspective.

The examples of the compassion and fairness of the hudud laws were from a time long gone. It would have been more reassuring if contemporary examples from the Middle East, Pakistan or Nigeria were used.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the plan to legislate hudud in Terengganu is that the PAS government sees this as their God-given mandate over and above the people's mandate. From a minority and non-Muslim perspective, that same God-given mandate can be used to suppress their rights in the name of a Higher Authority and to carry out further Islamisation policies. Indeed, to PAS, this seems to be their God-given right and duty as Muslims.

As part of a small group of non-Muslims who actually bothered to listen directly to PAS' defence of the hudud laws, I am far from convinced that the hudud bill is something that any non-Muslim can support or at least not protest against. For the many other non-Muslims out there who read the mainstream papers and watch mainstream TV, it is almost guaranteed that PAS has alienated them even further.

Keadilan and PRM too would both be losers in this episode as their multiethnic character would be tainted by their association with PAS and it is almost certain that they would lose non-Muslim support over this issue.

I hope that both parties can consider the views of the minorities in this country or risk losing their support come the next general elections.

ONG KIAN MING was headed for glorious riches as a management consultant before too much of the good life got to him. He's now working at a think tank focusing on nation building, civil liberties and minority representation issues. He also has a column every Monday in the New Straits Times called 'Chisel and Stone' which he co-writes with his boss. He can be reached at im_ok_man@yahoo.com. The opinions and content of this article are his alone.