WHY ARE THE HINDUS SO UPSET?

Do you really think that propagating your religious or political cause through the message of hate is not going to have any serious repercussions in the end? I will be 64 years old next month and in 1969 I was 19. So I was old enough to know what happened in 1969. And let me assure you of one thing. The hate in Malaysia today is far worse than it was in 1969.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Okay, I know why the Hindus are upset. They are upset because of that Indian-Muslim preacher, Ustaz Shahul Hamid Seeni Mohd, who mocked Hinduism. And it seems a second video has now emerged on Youtube. But my question is: why are the Hindus upset?

The reason I ask this question is because this is the normal modus operandi of those of the Abrahamic faiths. Watch or listen to the talks and sermons of the world-renowned Muslim and Christian preachers and tell me what you see and hear. What you will see and hear would be hate-messages against the other faiths.

I personally know some of the Muslim preachers, have met a few of them, and a couple have even come to my house back when I was in Malaysia. However, I do not want to mention their names but you know who all these people are. Their speeches and sermons are full of hate.

You may think this is confined to just the Muslim preachers but this is not so. Even the more fiery Christian preachers are the same — maybe not in Malaysia, for obvious reasons, but for sure in countries like the United States, especially Middle America where they even whack Catholics and call them non-Christians.

Do you know there are some Americans who do not understand Catholicism and do not regard Catholics as Christians? They belong to individual churches and those not of their church, even if the other churches are non-Catholic Christian churches, are seen as deviant Christians.

They promote their religion, or their branch of their religion, by mocking and condemning those not of their religion or not of their branch or ‘church’, Muslim preachers included, of course. So what Ustaz Shahul did can be considered as normal and no Muslim would feel that this is wrong, just like the Christian audience would not get upset when their preachers do the same.

Unfortunately, the more than 1,000-year rivalry of the three branches of the Abrahamic faiths, plus the various sub-branches and sub-sub branches, has been reduced to condemning and mocking ‘the other side’. It is about you must hate those who are not with us.

You may not have noticed but this is how politics is played as well, not only in Malaysia but also all over the world. Why do you think there is so much killing in so many countries (worse, of course, in Muslim countries but not confined to just Muslim countries)? All the conflicts are about hate.

There does not appear to be any love left in this world. People no longer talk about what they love. They talk about what they hate. Love does not drive you. Hate does. You do things motivated by hate rather than by love.

Why do Malaysians want a change of government? Well, because we hate Barisan Nasional. We hate Umno. We hate the Malay government. We hate the New Economic Policy. We hate what we see as discrimination against the non-Malays. We hate Najib Tun Razak and his wife. And the list goes on and on.

Why does PKR want Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim ousted? Again, because we hate him for not doing things the way we want him to and for not listening to us and for not being a ‘team player’? Is that a crime? Well, it is if I hate it.

Malays are very politicised creatures. Even MCA President Ling Liong Sik personally told me so 30 years ago back in the 1980s. And this, said Ling, is why the Chinese lose out to the Malays when it comes to politics.

But that was 30 years ago. Today, since the last decade or so, the Chinese (and Indians as well) have learned how to also become political creatures and the 2008 general election is proof of that. Today, the Chinese and Indians are as good (or as bad) as the Malays when it comes to politics, a far cry from the pre-2004 era.

The problem is the Chinese and Indians, too, have been contaminated by the Malay political culture. And this political culture is the culture of hate (just like how their religious culture is, culture of hate anything not Islam).

Many do not agree with what I write. And that is quite normal and to be expected. But none of those who do not like what I write rebut what I say or respond to what I write point-by-point. Instead, they post hate comments as their response.

My articles can run into two or three pages or 2,000 words or more. That is a lot of pages and words. Why don’t they reply based on their own research? Why condemn the writer rather than counter what the writer writes with your own analysis or assessment of the situation?

Opinions are just that, opinions. I have my opinion and you have yours. You can disagree with my opinion but then offer us your opinion. To disagree with my opinion by calling me names, like most people do, is not considered debating.

That is what Malaysians have been reduced to. When you disagree you condemn and you mock. And that is how Muslim plus Christian preachers try to convince their audience that they are right and are telling you God’s truth. They condemn and mock the rival belief.

So Hindus should not get upset. This is how Muslim and Christian preachers market their religion. They condemn and mock the other religions. And this, too, is how politics is played in Malaysia. They condemn and mock their political rivals. And in some countries, when the condemning and mocking reaches a certain level, they take up arms and kill each other, most times killing innocent civilians and non-combatants who are not even involved in the war.

The Chinese and Indians are no better than the Malays. Everyone does it. Everyone propagates hate whether it is about religion or politics. And for countries like Malaysia where religion and politics come as a package it really does not matter. Condemning one is seen as condemning the other. And this is why Malaysia is very complicated although Malaysia is not the only country like this.

Sometimes we no longer even know whether all those killings in some countries are about politics or religion. The line between the two is not clear. One thing that is clear though: never mind whether it is about politics or religion, it is certainly about hate.

Do you really think that propagating your religious or political cause through the message of hate is not going to have any serious repercussions in the end? I will be 64 years old next month and in 1969 I was 19. So I was old enough to know what happened in 1969. And let me assure you of one thing. The hate in Malaysia today is far worse than it was in 1969.