AT LAST, The Test. This will be the test of the Pakatan Rakyat Perak government made up of the socialist DAP, the Justice PKR and the Islamic PAS parties. DAP has 18 of the 32 Pakatan coalition seats, PKR eight (in a total of 60). PAS has the least, six, but it holds the chief minister (Mentri Besar) post that has the capacity to influence and act on the state Islamic religious department.
The statement below, dated June 24, 2008, was issued by the Malaysia Hindu Sangam. It details the replay of an old story and an old theme. It is also self-explanatory. On the same day of the statement, the Sultan of Perak was reported to have said, inter alia, that people should “not … test or challenge religious issues to the extent of creating uneasiness among society”. His exact words were not produced (see, never trust the media), so the message and its implication are as ambigous as they are wide. Hindu Sangam, meanwhile (to which this point must be added - Hindu Sangam in the person of A Vaithilingam might have been easier, or softer, faced with the predecessor government):
We refer to the report in the Malaysia Nanban on Tuesday, 24th June 2008 (page 3) regarding the turmoil faced by the family of the late Elangesvaran.
We understand that the late Elangesvaran allegedly converted to Islam at some point. He has now committed suicide, and his body is at the hospital. The Islamic authorities say he died a Muslim, but his family members and friends say that Elangesvaran continued to profess and practise Hinduism all the way through until his untimely death.
The Malaysia Hindu Sangam extends our deepest condolences to his family in their time of grief on the untimely and early demise of Elangesvaran.. We are also saddened that yet again a grieving family is being put through torment because Islamic religious authorities are threatening to snatch away the body of their loved one away.
We have today written to the Menteri Besar of Perak urging him to ensure that the civil courts are allowed to determine the religious status of the late Elangesvaran. Therefore, we urge the Islamic authorities not to prosecute claims in the Syariah court for the bodies of the dead who are in the custody of non Muslim next of kin. If a non-Muslim is a party to the dispute, the Syariah courts should not deal with the matter.
We also urge the Perak State Government to recognise the constitutional right of a non Muslim who may have converted to Islam for some reason to revert to his original religion, or to some other religion. A person’s right to profess and practice the religion of his choice should not be unnecessarily interfered with by the State.
This test of the Pakatan is relatively straightforward, which is also to say the exam requires no great legal nor intellectual skills. This is purely a test of wills. And as straight as it is, the test will decide:
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(a) the ultimate nature of a Pakatan coalition. By nature, it is to mean the extent of the inter-party relationship, whether, for example, convenience in the relationship can be extended to governance? Is it substantive? Can it hold?
- (b) the future course of all Pakatan governments, present and future, including especially any possibility of a federal government
If the test fails - however defined - then it proves that putting aside disagreements when opposing parties had prior chances to sort it out is never a lasting principle for coexistence. In truth, then, there is no fundamental difference between a Pakatan coalition and the ruling National Front (BN) coalition. For decades, the BN wanted it both ways; the result is what we get in the Hindu Sangam statement and numerous parallel and similar cases prior to it. Now, this has to be decided once and for all time not by the constitution because the judiciary has been pussy-footing with it and the constitution itself is contradictory in parts. The test then is purely political, hence (a) and (b).
This issue has been haunting the DAP ever since there is a DAP except that now, in a different set of circumstances, in a position of relative power, what has it to say? Nothing, nothing, nothing. The People wait.
