I would think that it was malaysiakini's publication of Dr Patricia Martinez's article on al Mawardi's Kitab al- Ahkam al-Sultaniyya that exposed the allegedly 'hidden from the cabinet' agenda of the Information Ministry's plans on creating an Islamic state.

The reply to DAP's Kerk Kim Hock in Parliament, that the cabinet has not approved this information booklet, is a little hard to believe.

Even if we can swallow such a lame excuse, it merely shows that the 'fundamentalists' are also lurking in the government's camp. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!

On another thought, we might wonder why the makers, publishers, supporters and disseminators of the booklet are not considered a threat to national security?

We are not unfamiliar with the standard 'rent-a-response' on national security. The constitution is silent and the call for an Islamic state through lectures and dissemination of these ideas could well be considered unconstitutional and subversive.

The Information Ministry's active participation of the Islamic state rhetoric could possibly be interpreted as 'sensitive' thereby causing 'disaffection to the Malay rulers'. The Malay rulers had rejected the inclusion in the constitution that the federation is an Islamic state.

The minister should resign in the long-forgotten tradition of ministerial responsibility. The government hounds and supporters are deafeningly silent when it is one of its own.