Festivities soured by race

Muslims condemn the disgusting acts of intolerance. Two reports appended below

Evil persists not necessarily because of evil men, but because good men don't do anything about it. I hope the Muslims in Malaysia condemn these extremists who displayed the most disgusting, revolting act of belligerence towards their fellow countrymen; Hindus. I hope they did not have any connivance or permission from the majority of Malaysian Muslims.

The act of carrying a head of a bull is un-acceptable and we urge the Malaysian Government to punish these loonies as criminals bent on disturbing peace of the state. They should not be cited as Muslims and their religion does not permit them to do that, they are criminals and must be cited as such.

This act should not be a reflection on the Nation of Malaysia or her Muslims. The idea is if I commit a crime, I should be the one to be thrown in the Jail, no one but me should be resonsible for my acts, not my family, not my parents, kids, nationality, race or religion.

This is how nations can check extremism by singling out bad guys and taking them out one at a time, in this case, we hope every Muslim in Malaysia will support the government for knocking these hoodlums out as criminals and nothing but criminals.

To be a Muslim is to be a peacemaker, one who seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; that is indeed the purpose of religion, any religion. Mission statement

www.WorldMuslimCongress.org

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Festivities soured by race
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_423266.html

Malaysia's National Day celebrations this week have been soured by new racial troubles as minority ethnic Chinese and Indians fear Muslim Malay nationalists are gaining power. --PHOTO: AP

KUALA LUMPUR -MALAYSIA'S National Day celebrations this week have been soured by new racial troubles as minority ethnic Chinese and Indians fear Muslim Malay nationalists are gaining power.

In a rare overt display of the tensions, dozens of Muslims paraded on Friday with the bloodied head of a cow, a sacred animal in Hinduism, to protest the proposed construction of a Hindu temple in their neighborhood.

The intolerance cast a shadow over Malaysia's nation-building efforts as it celebrates 52 years of independence from British rule on Monday.

'Increasingly after 52 years, Malaysia is at a crossroad,' James Chin, a political science professor at Monash University in Kuala Lumpur, said Sunday. 'We are heading toward an intolerant society where fundamentalists and extremists are hijacking the national agenda to become a prosperous multiracial Malaysia.'

In a recent case, a Muslim woman was sentenced to caning by an Islamic court for drinking beer in public. Authorities last week agreed to review the penalty after many Malaysians said it damaged the country's reputation as a moderate Muslim-majority nation.

Also this month, officials curbed the retail sale of liquor in a central state and barred Muslims from a concert next month by the US group the Black Eyed Peas because it is sponsored by Irish beer giant Guinness.

Although these examples involve actions by Muslims toward other Muslims, many Malaysians worry they are a reflection of the growing clout of Islamic hard-liners that will eventually effect other minorities.

The inter-religious discord is a particular concern for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is trying to promote racial equality.

Malaysia has carefully nurtured harmony among its three main ethnic groups - Malays, Chinese and Indians who are Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Sikh - since 1969, when the country suffered its worst racial riots. But racial tensions have increased in recent years amid complaints by minorities that their rights are being eroded as the influence of Islamic hard-liners grows.

Lim Kit Siang, an opposition leader, said the cow head protest in central Selangor was a slap to Mr Najib's racial equality campaign known as '1Malaysia.'

'The cow-head sacrilege must serve as an ominous warning that Mr Najib's first National Day celebration as prime minister will go down as a black National Day if the genies of racism and religious chicanery are allowed to get out of the bottle,' Mr Lim said.

Mr Najib hasn't made any public comment so far on the protest. Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam said the incident infuriated the prime minister, who asked the national police chief to investigate. -- AP

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Protesters threaten bloodshed over Hindu temple

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/36272-protesters-threaten-bloodshed-over-hindu-temple

The group making their way to the Selangor secretariat building after their prayers. - Picture by Choo Choy May

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

SHAH ALAM, Aug 28 — A group of Malay-Muslim protesters claiming to be residents of Section 23 have threatened bloodshed unless the state government stopped the construction of a Hindu Temple.

Amid chants of "Allahuakbar," the group also left the severed head of a cow at the entrance of the State Secretariat here as a warning to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

The "residents" said that the construction of a Hindu temple in a 90 per cent Malay- Muslim neighbourhood was insensitive because activities there would disrupt their lives.

They claimed that the "noise" from the temple would disturb their own praying, and that they would not be able to function properly as Muslims.

The group of 50 over protestors marched shortly after Friday prayers from the Shah Alam State mosque to the State Secretariat.

“I challenge YB Khalid, YB Rodziah and Xavier Jeyakumar to go on with the temple construction. I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension will happen if this goes on, and the state will be held responsible,” shouted Ibrahim Haji Sabri amid strong chants of “Allahu Akbar!”

Ibrahim identified himself as the Deputy Chairman of the Resident’s Committee against the building of the temple in S23 here, which is perceived by some as being a Muslim majority area.

He told the press that the state should move the temple to Section 22 as ‘originally planned’, and also labelled Khalid a “traitor to the Malay race and Islam”.

It is understood that the protest is an immediate reaction towards the Selangor MB’s visit to the Hindu temple site yesterday, an act seen by the "residents" as disrespectful to the Muslims of the community.

Mohd. Zurit Bin Ramli, who claims to be the secretary of the "Coalition of Malaysian NGOs" echoed Ibrahim’s stand on the matter, saying that it was irresponsible on the part of the state government to approve the construction as there was apparently a “90 per cent” majority Muslim population in Section 23.

“With a temple on our residential area, we cannot function properly as Muslims. The temple will disrupt our daily activities like prayers in the Surau. We cannot concentrate with the sounds coming from the temple,” stated Zurit.

When asked whether members of the protest were affiliated with any organisations or movements, Ibrahim claimed that the people present today were members of PAS, PKR as well as Umno who are “united in the name of Islam and the Malay spirit.”

The state government was also accused of lying to the people of Selangor.

The Chairman of the Residents Committee, Mahyuddin Manaf excitedly proclaimed that the committee would uncover “the lies” and find proof of the state’s misconduct.

“Khalid Ibrahim wears a mask of a Muslim, but in truth he is a liberal. PAS stands to lose out as a result. I voted for PAS as well as Khalid in the past elections,” Mahyuddin claimed.

The issue first cropped up when the Selangor government proposed that the Sri Mariamman temple be relocated from Section 19 to Section 23.

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