The current dilemma that Barisan Alternatif is in comes as no surprise to any observer of Malaysian politics. When groups within DAP expressed their concern about the apparent dominance of the Islamist party PAS within the BA alliance, they were accused of playing into the hands of the ruling BN coalition and/or playing to their own ethnic (non-Malay/Muslim) gallery. But DAP's worries about PAS' tendency to push its own Islamist agenda on others was never adequately addressed or even taken seriously.

The fact remains that one year after its electoral victory at the 1999 elections, there are still many PAS leaders and intellectuals who speak like fanatics and extremists who do not understand the meaning of compromise, tolerance and the need to respect differences.

Of course we all know what their reply will be: There cannot be compromise on matters of faith, there can be no tolerance for those who do not abide by religion and there can be no respect for differences if this means deviating from the path of Islam that they have set.

The latest round of fanatical intolerance from PAS came from the editorial written by PKK entitled [#1]"Apostasy and Umno's aqidah antics"[/#]. This was posted on the PAS website recently.

The writer argues that Umno is an unIslamic party and that its aqidah bill was merely a piece of showmanship and propaganda. The writer would like the state to go much further when punishing those guilty of apostasy, even though the figure of Muslims leaving Islam in Malaysia is pathetically small (compared with those non-Muslims who come into the Islamic fold).

What is worse, the writer does not even bother to hide his intolerance, contempt and downright prejudice towards those whom he regards as apostates. He condemns them as "lepers", whose families will be treated like lepers too. He argues that they bring shame and contempt to their community and that they are all guilty of betraying Islam and the Muslim ummah . Those who leave Islam must be dealt with harshly and violently, and no mercy can be given to them.

What kind of language is this? Apart from sounding like the rantings of some sidewalk lunatic, it does not even have any basis in the Quran. The fact is that the Quran is silent on the issue of apostasy and that the punishments against apostasy came much later among Muslim jurists. This shows that the decisions were historical and culturally bound, not fixed. Who and what gives this writer the right to condemn others who don't follow his line of thought and belief? What intolerance and fanaticism this is. And yet PAS wants to call itself an open, democratic and tolerant party.

What is even more ironic is the confused state of mind of the writer when he tries to explain why non-Muslims should convert to Islam instead. Here he sounds just like any BJP or RSS Hindu fundamentalist who claims that all Indians are fundamentally Hindus and that they should all return to Hindusim in order to rediscover their original identity.