NOT all Muslim leaders agree that a rally to oppose an international human rights treaty against racial discrimination should take place as planned on December 8 in light of the violence that broke out earlier this week over the relocation of a Hindu temple.

Those who wish to go ahead with the demonstration against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) say it has nothing to do with Monday and Tuesday’s riots at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman in USJ 25, Subang Jaya.

Others say feelings were still raw even if the temple fracas was not racial in nature, and a rally against the elimination of racial discrimination could prove inflammatory.

Pertubuhan Muafakat Sejahtera Masyarakat Malaysia president Ismail Mina Ahmad is among those for the rally, which he said was planned well before the temple clashes. 

Ismail said as the authorities have said the temple violence was not racially-based, the anti-ICERD rally could not be seen as racially antagonistic.

“We should continue with the rally because we want to educate people as to why Muslims cannot accept the ICERD, and what are the implications for our religion if we were to do so, ” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Putrajaya last week announced it would not ratify the treaty following an outcry from Muslim groups. 

Opposition parties Umno and PAS had by then announced plans for a mega rally to protest the ratification.

The rally will proceed, its organiser Gerakan Pembela Ummah (Ummah) has said, despite the government’s decision not to sign the treaty.

Federation of National Associations of al-Quran Tahfiz Institutions (Pinta) president Mohd Zahid Mahmood said the rally should take place because it was important for Muslims to show unity.

He said rally would also send a message to those who “dispute the position of Islam, the Malay rulers, and the special position of the Malays”.

“Such a rally is not about showing how great we are but to show that Muslims are united in the name of Islam,” he said.

The temple issue centres on rival groups within the temple’s management that had initially agreed to a consent order to vacate the current land it sits on for a new site allocated to it nearby, but who are now at odds over the relocation.

Despite the matter being a legal dispute involving property and not about race, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisations Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid believed sentiments following the violence were still heated.

The episode has been complicated by use of Malay thugs purportedly to secure the premises before developers moved in to clear the land, and by the assault of a fireman on duty at the scene.

“Even though the incidents at the temple were not caused by racial factors, such feelings are still strong. And now the court had rejected an application to stop the developer from taking over the land. I think this is bound to increase feelings about the issue.

“So it is better not to have any rally or gathering which expresses race-based interests,” Azmi said.

Those against the ratification of the ICERD sentiment base their argument on the special position of Malays in Malaysia and that the treaty would affect the affirmative action policies for them.

Some religious leaders think it is unwise to hold the rally now.

Kelantan mufti Mohamad Shukri Mohamad said the rally against ICERD was pointless after the government’s decision not to ratify it, and noted the “heated” situation at present.

“In Islam, when we want to achieve something, we should consider the good and the bad. If there’s more bad than good, why should we continue?” he told the New Straits Times, adding that troublemakers could take advantage of the event to cause chaos.

He suggested that a thanksgiving and prayer session be held in place of the rally

Perak mufti Dr Harussani Zakaria said the rally was unnecessary now that the government had said it would not sign the treaty, while Penang mufti Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said it should be cancelled in view of the current situation when the priority should be the preservation of inter-ethnic ties.

“To prevent the present situation from becoming worse, the rally should not proceed,” he was quoted as saying on Berita Harian. – December 2, 2018.