COMMENT | Why is there the need for ‘double’ cancellation of the Jerusalem Jubilee?

It was really not necessary for Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi to flog the dead horse of "Jerusalem Jubilee". The event was already cancelled even before he made his announcement yesterday in Ipoh.

Like most politicians trying to be politically relevant, he wanted the credit for cancelling the event in Malacca scheduled to be held from June 15 to 18. Since there were a number of police reports lodged by Muslim organisations, Zahid felt he should be the hero. He said that the "Jerusalem Jubilee" was not appropriate and if held, would be insensitive to the feelings of Muslims.

However, he failed to mention that the organisers of the event had already cancelled the event after consultations with the Malacca police earlier.

Why there is need for this 'double' cancellation remains to be seen. In his speech in Ipoh yesterday, Zahid said that he was 'colour blind' that he would direct the police to cancel events if they have the tendency to hurt the feelings of religious or ethnic communities in the country.

In this respect, the "Jerusalem Jubilee" was cancelled because it might hurt or annoy Muslims in the country. However, Zahid apart from his police directive did not disclose the reasons why the event was considered insensitive to Muslims.

We might not agree with the police, but sometimes we have to give them the benefit of doubt simply because they know what is good or bad for the security of the country.

In the interests of democracy and freedom of gathering or association, we think sometimes that police overstep their mark. But in the final analysis, they have a duty to perform.

It is good to hear that Zahid is 'colour blind'; in other words, he wants to act fairly to all races and religious communities in the country. Bravo! We want more leaders like Zahid to act without fear or favour.

Double standard

The real question is: to what extent have the police or the Home Ministry have acted to prevent the rise of racial and religious tensions in the country.

If the police can act so fast on the case of "Jerusalem Jubilee", how come it refused to act against the Muslim preacher from Bombay, Zakir Naik, or the Perlis mufti, Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, despite hundreds of police reports? These two individuals were allowed to get away with their atrocious statements against Hindus.

So, why the double standard on the part of Zahid? On the matter of Zakir and Asri, why didn't Zahid exercise his 'colour blind' stand? In other words, Zahid must admit that he has not been that 'colour blind' on some matters, especially those that had no bearing on Umno’s popularity with Malay Muslims.

Zahid is a politician after all. He wants to remain relevant in the eyes of Malay Muslims for his political career. He is prepared to 'turn a blind eye' to episodes that are not considered as politically expedient to him or his party, Umno. While he moved fast to flog the "Jerusalem Jubilee" dead horse, he failed miserably to rein in Muslim extremists like Zakri and Asri.

Finally, Zahid should not convince himself that he is "colour blind" but try to convince Malaysians in the interest of national harmony that he doesn't "turn a blind eye" to some issues and not to others.

P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the state assemblyperson for Perai.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.