FIVE years ago, a group of Muslims protested against a church in their neighbourhood in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, claiming that its presence disrupted communal harmony.

Police reports were lodged, tensions flared and Selangor intervened to protect the church’s presence and its right to have a cross on its facade.  

Today, Pakatan Harapan wants to set up a commission that will stop such disputes from getting out of hand by mediating between different communities on disagreements over race and religion.

Putrajaya is drafting a bill to set up the independent commission, tentatively called the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament this year.

Taking this cue, a coalition of civil society organisations, which includes prominent Muslim groups and anti-discrimination activists, are currently gathering feedback from Malaysians for the bill and the commission.

“Given the importance of the commission, we have started holding stakeholder engagements on what the bill on the commission should be like,” said Eugene Yap of Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM).

GBM is an alliance of 26 individual groups in the country and includes grassroots Muslim organisations, such as Pertubuhan Ikram (Ikram) and the Muslim Youth Movement (Abim), together with human rights bodies, such as Suaram and Aliran.

The alliance has consistently spoken up against racial and religious incitement and opposed its use by political parties.

“Nothing is finalised yet but the intention is to submit recommendations to the government on what should be in the bill and commission,” Yap told The Malaysian Insight after a stakeholder discussion.

“We feel the commission is a good mechanism to contribute to inter-religious harmony and unity.

“For instance, some years ago, there was a church in Petaling Jaya and Muslims in the community didn’t like its presence. So when it comes to this kind of situation, the commission should have a process to mediate, to call parties to the same table and find a solution.”

The idea for the commission was announced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy during the parliamentary sitting in April last year.

Wayta Moorthy, who is in charge of the national unity portfolio, said the commission is aimed at strengthening ties between the country’s different ethnic and faith communities.

A senior government source said the proposal for the commission will see it being independent just like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

It is also proposed that the commission have powers to compel disputing parties to come forward for mediation.

The body, however, will not have powers to censure or sanction those who incite inter-communal hatred and tension.

This is since there are already provisions in the Penal Code to deal with such incidents while the police are empowered to enforce them, the source said. – February 14, 2020.