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FARISH A NOOR - one of the country's most prolific writers - is taking a well-deserved break. This is his last column for
malaysiakini
, for now
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The first stirrings of the reformasi had held such promise to many people, including FARISH A NOOR. Today, however, he rues that little has changed in the neofeudalistic political culture of the nation.
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Dictators and tyrants of the South will do well to heed the cautionary tale presented by the fall of their Iraqi counterpart: that they are all potential victims of US 'liberation' and intervention, warns FARISH A NOOR.
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The US-led invasion of Iraq is but the same sad tale of Anglo-Saxon colonisation, as demonstrated in the 'liberation' of Burmese from themselves in the 19
th
century.
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While some Muslim men demand justice, respect and dignity for themselves, they seem unable to dispense it in equal measure to Muslim women.
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So, the
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Green may be in for PAS, but at one point in the Islamic party's history, red featured prominently and proudly, too. FARISH A NOOR reminds PAS of its own greatest moment - when it was led by a progressive Islamist called Dr Burhanuddin Al-Helmy, who was linked to the local leftist movement.
0By lodging a police report over a letter which it found 'seditious', is Umno Youth living up to the image of 'moderate, progressive Islam'? FARISH A NOOR sees in the leading Youth wing yet another hardline movement that has failed to understand and live by the spirit of democratic debate and the adab (customary etiquette) of differences of opinion as professed by Islam.
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While non-Muslims vocally object to an aggression on Iraq, the Muslim world appears to have lost its voice. Farish A Noor says it is time Islamist leaders and intellectuals scrutinise themselves and ask some pressing questions about the state of Islamist political discourse and how it has failed to serve Muslims themselves.
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The Islamisation race between Umno and PAS will curtail fundamental liberties and bear more repressive laws in a country already laden with them. FARISH A NOOR notes that PAS' willingness to learn from a 'decadent and corrupt' Saudi Arabia is a cause for concern.
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