As a new DAP Malay leader, Mohd Hariszuan Jaharudin is often confronted with the ‘H’ (hudud) word, being told that all Malays want to see the law practised in Malaysia although the party he joined was against it.

“Even PAS thinks so but have they they checked?” asked the 26 year old Johorean, who joined DAP before the 13th general election last year and is presently the Bukit Bendera DAP Socialist Youth chief.

“For the last 50 years, there has not been one NGO which struggles to implement hudud in Malaysia but there are many defending human rights, even Malay ‘special rights’, because these are real issues,” said the Penang municipal councillor.

He claimed that even Umno is not serious about implementing the Islamic law or the party would have done so long ago as it has ruled the country since Independence (August 1957).

Hariszuan ( right ) said hudud is merely a “life-line” for conservative Malays, who exist in all parties, but this category can no longer stay relevant in a multi-racial society, whose citizens are more involved in human rights and ideological issues.

“Malays cannot be seen to reject hudud as it is a very loaded term, for those who say no to the Islamic law can be labelled an unbeliever who is headed for Hell in the afterlife,” said the political secretary to Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, in an interview with Malaysiakini .

“Even so, we are not crazy to see it implemented tomorrow because we realise how complex it is, can we guarantee that the courts are fair, and laws be applied properly?” asked Hariszuan, who comes from a typical Malay family down south.

“Yet we cannot prevent others from wanting to advocate for the law as it is their right,” he said, adding that it is crucial to continue discussing the issue, especially among Muslims, before any state could even dream about implementing the law.

Hariszuan joined the DAP because he felt that even as a Malay, his community was not benefitting from existing government policies, and that he felt “cheated” as a former student of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) because “nothing much was ever discussed there”.

Hudud is often the thorn in the flesh of the DAP, which is forced to confront its own ally PAS, which is adamant in wanting to implement the Islamic jurisprudence, especially in Kelantan, where the party heads the state government.

PAS had recently withdrawn a Private Members Bill on hudud in Kelantan which it wanted to table in Parliament as it is presently discussing the matter in a technical committee set up by the federal government.

Keen political observers say that if not resolved, PAS’ insistence on hudud may severe the party’s ties with DAP, and this has great implications for Pakatan Rakyat’s performance in the coming 14th general election.

Religion tool to control citizens

Hariszuan’s colleague Syerleena Rashid, 34, the new Bukit Bendera secretary, who was featured in Malaysiakini yesterday, feels that religion is often used as a “tool” to control citizens, when asked how she explains the hudud issue to those who question why she joined the DAP.

“If we want to talk about hudud, let’s base everything on fact instead of telling us if we don’t support hudud, we are going to burn in Hell or are considered lesser Muslims than those who do,” said Syerleena ( left ), who works in a water sports company.

“Malaysians definitely have the political maturity to discuss these things so lets hear each other out  and remember the federation, during the tenure of first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman, was founded on very different principles, but now power corrupts, and religion is used to divide and rule, to spark conflict between the races,” she added.

For Muhammad Shakir Ameer Mohideen ( right ), the new Bukit Bendera assistant secretary, “It’s simple as an Islamic administration means justice for all”.

“Welfare for all and fighting corruption are all Islamic principles. Corruption is one of the biggest sins in Islam. If anything instil good values, that is already Islamic, we do not have to label the country as an Islamic state per se,” he said.

Which is why he joined the DAP last year, even as the party is often attacked for allegedly being un-Islamic and anti-Malay, because he found its leaders - especially Lim Kit Siang and the late Karpal Singh - to be full of “discipline and principles”.

“The government always portrayed them as bad people who are crazy for power.

“If they are crazy for power, they would have joined BN a long time ago, but they stuck on to their principles even as they lost in several elections,” said Shakir, who is a trained engineer, a former St Xavier’s Institution boy,  who later graduated from the Malaysian Multimedia University in Cyberjaya.

“The Internet and reformasi played a part in my growing political awareness where citizens like me started to question, becoming more aware with every research and participation in rallies like reformasi and Bersih,” he added.

“There came a time when we found out that the man we admired for a long time, former premier Dr Mahathir Mahathir, is not who we think he is, as his former deputy (Anwar Ibrahim) continued to bring him down from prison,” he quipped.

Poll: 58pct Malays feel M'sia not ready for hudud