THOSE who opposed the controversial International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) may claim victory after Putrajaya announced yesterday that it will not ratify the international instrument.

The mood among them might be celebratory, especially if they chose to perceive this decision as the Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration buckling under ferocious pressure and objection from the Malay-Muslim community.

Hence, the insistence among some of them that they should still stage a public rally on December 8 to celebrate.

But it may not be the right time for them – if we are at liberty to use the expression – to crack open a bottle of champagne. For, there is a need for introspection and conversation by all concerned Malaysians arising from this episode.

Decades-old politics of race and religion that informed the ICERD protest had entrenched, and in some cases amplified, ethno-centrism, hatred and suspicion among segments in our society. Old habits die hard.

Hence, many segments among the Malays were swayed argument by so-called defenders of Islam and the community that ICERD would undermine Article 153 in the federal constitution and other provisions that are considered “sacred”.

While fear of the implications of ICERD ratification may be genuine to certain pockets of Malays, the deliberate manufacturing of a siege mentality by certain quarters with vested interests for the consumption of Malays, might have increased the political temperature to a dangerous level.

To give it a larger context, ICERD emerged at a time when those politicians who lost badly in the last general election were struggling to make themselves relevant again in the eyes of the Malay-Muslim community.

To these politicians the ICERD issue must have been, as the Malay proverb says, “Bagaikan bulan jatuh ke riba”. A golden opportunity that knocked on the door of those who all along have been peddling and profiting from the politics of race and religion.

As part of the playbook of those who exploit race, Malays are told that ratifying ICERD would mean they are being slowly undermined by minorities in this multiethnic, multireligious and multicultural country.

And, it doesn’t help either when such anti-ICERD rhetoric is couched in religious terms. Not that such religious intervention is out of the ordinary in Malaysian politics.

If anything, it only heightened the fervour of those waging war against ICERD, and possibly blowing things out of proportion.

For instance, in urging all “God-fearing” Malaysians to oppose this convention, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang sought the moral and religious high ground in defending “agama, bangsa dan negara” (religion, race and country).

In other words, to defy his calling is to be fearless of God, and, therefore, those who do so deserve to be demonised. In a culture steeped in religious practices, it is sacrilegious for a Malay not to fear God. You are, therefore, either with “us” or “them”.

Such rhetoric laced with godliness is calculated to legitimise threats of running amok if the government ignored their objections and pursued the path of ICERD. No matter if such threats violate norms of democracy.

Even the spectre of May 13 was invoked by certain quarters to show their grim resolve to oppose what they see as a transgression on Malay interests. It appears that they don’t mind going down the slippery slope of violence to attain their objective.

Is it any wonder, then, that the vigilante Badar Squad, for instance, is defiant and adamant about spreading its wings nationwide in its supposed war against vice and sin, especially among young people? A perceived divine blessing drives its mission to fight the evil that is courting those who defy God’s laws.

Democratic norms call for dialogue, discussion and debate, not rabble-rousing and, God forbid, social unrest.

Furthermore, Islam, like other religions, also calls for peaceful interaction and conversation about things that matter to all Malaysians from all walks of life.

With the benefit of hindsight, the government, needs to address the genuine fears of certain segments of Malays and other indigenous communities, particularly the poor and disenfranchised.

All is not lost if the government conscientiously pursues a policy of assisting the poor and needy in the country, i.e. the bottom 40%, the majority of whom are Malay, to show that poverty is indiscriminate. This is apart from providing assistance for educational and career advancement.

In the long run, it is hoped that it would be instructive to the poor and those in other social categories that Malaysians, irrespective of their ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, must be accorded dignity as a human being and God’s creation.

There’s a lot of work to be done, especially when race and religion are often exploited. But it’s worth doing it in the spirit of ICERD. – November 24, 2018.