{"id":8538,"date":"2014-05-16T16:31:40","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T08:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/?p=8538"},"modified":"2014-05-16T16:31:40","modified_gmt":"2014-05-16T08:31:40","slug":"najib-creating-bogeymen-to-hide-human-rights-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/najib-creating-bogeymen-to-hide-human-rights-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Najib creating bogeymen to hide human rights abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Zairil Khir Johari, MP for Bukit Bendera<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Najib should stop creating bogeymen to cover-up his own human rights abuses<\/strong><\/p>\n

The government\u2019s desperate campaign to demonise the \u201cother\u201d has now taken a twisted turn, with Prime Minister Dato\u2019 Sri Najib Razak\u2019s recent statement that Islam is \u201cbeing tested aggressively by an ideology which can be termed as \u2018human rights-ism\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Najib made this preposterous remark while launching the National Quran Recital Competition in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night. Explaining further, he said that \u201chuman rights-ism\u201d was like a new \u201creligion\u201d based on \u201chumanism and secularism as well as liberalism.\u201d He then goes on to warn that it is \u201cretrograde\u201d and that it rejects the values of religion and etiquette.<\/p>\n

Consistent search for bogeymen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Never had I ever imagined that the values of human rights, which are essentially justice, equality and freedom, could be a threat to Islam. In fact, most Islamic scholars would argue that these are the very values that make up the foundations of the religion.<\/p>\n

However, while the complete lack of logic in the Prime Minister\u2019s statement completely baffles the mind, it is sadly consistent with the government\u2019s tried and tested strategy of creating fictitious threats to ensure the Malay community remains under siege.<\/p>\n

In recent times, it has been the Christians, then the Chinese, and now human rights activism, which have become the bogeymen to the Malays. This proposition then justifies continued rule by Umno, the race\u2019s self-declared \u201cprotector\u201d against these so-called threats.<\/p>\n

Siapa makan cili, dia yang terasa pedas<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fact is that there is nothing to fear if there is nothing to hide. As the Malay adage goes, siapa makan cili, dia yang terasa pedas (whoever eats the chilli will feel the spice). In other words, only repressive regimes have reason to fear human rights because they violate them.<\/p>\n

Clearly, Najib\u2019s irrational attack against human rights is an admission that the BN government has, throughout decades, suppressed ordinary Malaysians through the use of oppressive laws and policies that have denied basic human rights such as freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and expression and even their right to free and fair elections.<\/p>\n

Najib\u2019s own track record has also been muddy. In 2012, he promised on \u201clive\u201d television that he would repeal the Sedition Act, a draconian piece of legislation that has been abused to oppress political opposition. Yet two years on, the law is not only still in effect, it is still being used by the government against its political opponents, most recently against the late Bukit Gelugor MP and DAP Chairman Karpal Singh and now against DAP\u2019s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and PKR\u2019s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli.<\/p>\n

Besides the Sedition Act, Malaysia also practices detention without trial, a fate that many opposition leaders have suffered throughout the years. Although the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA) has been repealed, its controversial provisions allowing preventive detention have been retained through the introduction of two new laws \u2013 the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act and the Prevention of Crime Act.<\/p>\n

Another human rights problem that has constantly dogged the government is its dismal record on deaths in custody. Only five months into the year, already eight deaths have been reported. If the rate continues, it will soon surpass last year\u2019s tally of 13 custodial deaths.<\/p>\n

As a leader, Najib should not shirk his responsibilities by simply dismissing human rights as a Western demon that threatens Islam. This attempt to create a bogeymen in order to cover up his government\u2019s gross abuse of human rights is laughable when the whole world knows the truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Zairil Khir Johari, MP for Bukit Bendera Najib should stop creating bogeymen to cover-up his own human rights abuses The government\u2019s desperate campaign to demonise the \u201cother\u201d has now taken a twisted turn, with Prime Minister Dato\u2019 Sri Najib Razak\u2019s recent statement that Islam is \u201cbeing tested aggressively by an ideology which can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8538"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8545,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8538\/revisions\/8545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}