At the United Nations General Assembly, inspiring words were used by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. He had urged a “global movement of the moderates, to counter violent extremism and religious intolerance.” And he went on to state that:

“Malaysia stands ready to share its experience; of marginalising extremism; maintaining a multi-religious country, where different faiths coexist and prosper; and showing that Islam can not only succeed, but drive progress and development in a pluralistic society.

“Like all nations, we have had our growing pains. Stability is never permanent; it must be actively maintained. But in Malaysia there are streets in which mosques, temples and churches stand side-by-side. Ours is a society in which religions may differ, but do so in peace; in the knowledge that we are all citizens of one nation.”

To date, these are still words without commitment to convert into conduct and this is the state of affairs of the ruling government. Najib’s unbecoming speech on Oct 12, 2014 at the MCA’s 61st annual general meeting further confirms BN’s entrenched and taken for granted belief that Malaysia’s wealth is their ‘property’ to use, distribute, abuse and control and justified through its extremist, religious and Malay supremacy (ketuanan Melayu) politics.

His declaration that those who do not support BN cannot ask for assistance from the government, showed that he has lost sight of his role as an elected head of the executive, with duties and responsibilities to manage and represent every constituency and citizens’ interest and needs, regardless of “religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender” [Federal Constitution, Article 8(2)]. It reflects selective persecution against differing political ideas.

Instead of attempting to regain people’s trust and confidence, Malaysians are fast losing faith in the government’s ability to stand tall and be counted. Our global track record on democracy and freedom has dropped on many fronts.

The 2014 World Press Freedom index showed that Malaysia has hit an historic low where it ranked 147 out of 180 countries. Not surprisingly so, as Malaysia is still extremely sensitive to criticism and having tight control over right to information and media freedom. The use of the Sedition Act against Susan Loone is the latest case of selective persecution by the government to curb freedom of expression.

Yet Utusan gets impunity for its overtly racial reporting, such as ‘ Apa lagi Cina mahu? ’ - a front page headline which many deemed this as stoking racial disharmony in the nation.

The January 2014 Democracy Audit showed that Malaysia dropped in its democracy ranking from 64 in 2012 to 79th, civil liberties’ score dropped from 4 in 2012 to 4 points; while corruption remained at 38th.

Key global indicators

These are important global indicators of a nation’s democratic health in comparison with other countries. They are also red alerts for governments to improve on the quality, durability and effectiveness of democracy in their countries.

But these indicators seem to fall on deaf ears. Malaysia has so much potential to lead in democracy building. The pluralism in Malaysia makes the nation as one of the most fertile ground for democracy to be nurtured and to grow.

The state has to only play its role - as espoused by the prime minister’s speech at the UN General Assembly - to reap on the diversity and vibrancy of the people and the nation. Yet, the state chose to sow and harvest on distrust, fear, divisiveness and repression to maintain control and power, and making democracy a privilege and not a right.

Under the guise of protecting Islam and Malay privileges (or Ketuanan Melayu), the government has constantly used and abused it to muzzle all expressions, debates and engagement on any race or religious issues.

Even though Malaysians are angered with the statement made by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri, it reflects the fact that the present government will never be able to shed off manipulating Islam and Ketuanan Melayu to silence any dissent.

Nancy Shukri ( left ), together with the attorney-general, represent the government. Their words and actions will mean sanctions for Ibrahim Ali’s hate speeches and the use of violence - all in the name of “defending Islam”.

It is very unfortunate that the government has allowed Isma and Perkasa to speak for Islam and Malay privileges. Together with state institutions like the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) and the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais), Perkasa and Isma are claiming the public domain and making themselves as the exclusive champions.

They help serve the Najib administration to articulate issues or act on issues when the ruling regime does not venture for fear of ruining their image. The state has in many instances backed these groups who are hell-bent on narrowing the political spaces for civil society, academicians and individuals to engage in any meaningful discourse on race, religion or nation building.

Most dangerously, racist groups like Perkasa are being funded by the government and supported by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( right in photo ) who acts as their patron.

With such high profile political patronage, it is no wonder that groups like Perkasa and Isma are so bold, arrogant and focus on being extremist in their words and deeds. They have impunity and worse they are defended by well-established religious heads like Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria who spoke up in support of Ibrahim Ali on his threat to burn the Malay Bibles.

Exclusive demands

However, Perkasa and Isma are not the only organisations promoting such views. To rewind, at the 12th general elections, a coalition of Islamic NGOs presented their election demands rejecting the “notion of Malaysia as a secular state” and also “of religious pluralism which claims that all religions are the same”.

This was led by Muslim groups like Pertubuhan-Pertubuhan Pembela Islam (Pembela), Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs (ACCIN), Abim, Isma and more than 20 other Muslim NGOs .

These demands were made exclusively and never discussed with other civil society organisations or with the public.

Race-based and conservative religious narratives are the challenges that Malaysians have to deal with as they contribute dearly to the dismantling of democracy and pluralism. Such divisive politics delegitimises any meaningful attempts to build diversity, inclusiveness and tolerance.

The deeds of these organisations together with the state are but just symptoms of a deeper challenge that is seeping into Malaysia’s road to unity and democracy. It forces Malaysians to respond to sectarian and divisive issues in unequal playing field. Views and ideas are strongly manipulated and controlled by government owned media and where extremist groups are given free space to articulate with impunity.

Instead of building equality, respect, promoting inclusive citizenry, forging unity, universality, and open government, the state is increasingly interested to continue with its divisive rule through religious and ethnic politics and the use and abuse of repressive laws to mute constructive criticisms.

Definitely, the wide and continued use of the Sedition Act against social activists, academicians and opposition leaders and the existence of the Prevention of Crime Act that allows for detention of up to two years without trial do not garner well for the government. It only reinforces the ruling regime as being incapable of dealing with differing views and repression is seen as the easy way out to end criticisms.

Coupled with Umno’s dependency on the Malay vote banks, Umno has cultivated these extremist groups to articulate racist and divisive politics with much gusto. No matter how Prime Minister Najib wants the country to be “transforming” towards moderation and inclusiveness, as long as Barisan National and Umno are stuck in their narrow and divisive narratives, they will not see change as positive but a challenge to their status quo.

Extremists and race-based politics have no place in nation-building. Justice, inclusiveness, equality and democracy are here to stay.

On Oct 15, the lawyers and civil society are walking for peace and freedom and rejecting the narrative of divide and rule.

MARIA CHIN ABDULLAH is the chairperson for the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 ( Bersih 2.0 ) and the executive director of Empower . She believes politicians are bad masters if not made good servants through free, fair and competitive elections.