Ezam sowing seeds of racial tension

It seems like Umno senator Ezam Mohd Nor will stop at nothing to gain political mileage. Now, he is using religion to threaten the non-Muslims, all under the guise of protecting the faith.



There is no doubt that Ezam has Umno’s backing in terrorising the non-Malays, using Islam as his modal or capital. Otherwise, how does Umno leader Najib Tun Razak who is also the prime minister explain the gathering? Did Ezam apply for a permit? If he did not, why was no action taken against him for holding an illegal gathering?



Free Malaysia Today



The “leave Islam alone” threat has cropped up again. This time it is Umno senator Ezam Mohd Nor who has declared war against all those who try and convert Muslims. He said he will also burn down news portals which act as agents for infidels.



Where is Ezam coming from, openly making such threats to online news portals and to non-Muslims? Will action be taken against him for disrupting peace through his incendiary remarks?



Ezam is one angry man who has even threatened Muslims who abet non-Muslims in conversions out of Islam.



“We have no choice but to wage war to protect the Muslim faith,” he said recently in front of 500 fellow Muslims at the compound of the Selangor state mosque in Shah Alam.



There is no doubt that Ezam has Umno’s backing in terrorising the non-Malays, using Islam as his modal or capital. Otherwise, how does Umno leader Najib Tun Razak who is also the prime minister explain the gathering? Did Ezam apply for a permit? If he did not, why was no action taken against him for holding an illegal gathering?



When the poor gather on May 1 to commemorate Labour Day and plead with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to help improve their quality of life, these less privileged citizens are chased away or detained. The rakyat urge the BN government to reform the electoral system and what does Najib do – he uses brute force to scare them. Why the double standard, Najib?



Ezam’s threats were directed at online news sites Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider which he claimed adopted a strong stance against the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (JAIS) raid at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church on Aug 3.



Political mileage



A man devoid of substance, Ezam had the cheek to say that Muslims have no issues with non-Muslims. Is that so? Has he been in deep slumber all the while when Muslims went about stomping on the severed head of a cow, all because they hated the idea of a Hindu temple being built in their Muslim neighbourhood?



Was Ezam in a stupor when the Muslims were up in arms against the non-Muslims when the latter found the Muslim call for prayer by mosques a tad too loud?



Has Ezam been sleeping on the job each time Malay right-wing group Perkasa issues threats to the non-Muslims, all under the guise of defending Malay rights?



Where was Ezam when former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad cautioned the non-Malays that this country belongs to the Malays and that the Indians and Chinese should be thankful for having been given Malaysian citizenship?



The fact is it is people like Ezam who tarnish the image of Islam, manipulating the religion to gain political mileage. Confrontations arising from sensitive issues like religion can never be solved through bloodshed, in case Ezam has now, during Ramadan – the month of repentance – decided to adopt violence as his modus operandi in cowering those who speak and report the truth. Is that the mark of a good Muslim?



Ezam’s threats will go no where near protecting the Muslim faith. To slaughter fellow humans under the pretext of jihad or struggle will only put Islam under a very damaging spotlight.



Is Ezam not aware that Islam, like all religions, is about compassion? Sad that as a Muslim, Ezam lacks this very fundamentals his religion espouses.



Fear culture



Since Ezam claims “violence is the best way to protect Islam”, he better deal with the truth that to slander and vow to cause harm is not going to earn him any “brownie points”.



The fear culture to get the non-Muslims to kowtow to the dominant race has to stop. The rakyat have had enough of threats made under the name of religion. They are just as tired of characters like Ezam and Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali who never cease to foam at the mouth in trying to act as defenders of Islam.



Ezam has to grow up and tackle the issue at hand in a mature manner. Is anger not condemned by all religions, its damage always irreversible?



There are decent ways and means to safeguard one’s religion and violence is definitely out of the scene. Does this self-serving senator truly believe that putting other people’s lives in danger is THE answer to a “safer” Islam?



This latest row involving Islam has certainly riled up the non-Malays but as always they are on their own each time such threats are made. Where do the non-Malays turn to when the government itself comprises racists and bigots in the likes of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein? The latter did not bat an eyelid in picking up a keris and swaying it in the face of non-Malays, threatening them to lay off “all things Malay” and demanding that they respect Islam at all cost.



Ezam has threatened to burn down online news portals. Is arson not a crime or is he now, by virtue of being an Umno crony, above the law?



What has happened to the non-Malay representatives, both the MIC and the MCA? Have they no guts to chastise Ezam and demand an apology for insulting the non-Malays over a matter that could have been dealt with wisely instead of resorting to gangsterism?