Do not for one moment think that PAS does not have the legal resources to have actually researched this issue. If anything, PAS has been extremely deliberate in its provocations against establishment power structures in this country.  

However, I do understand the reasoning behind this argument. It is the same reason why the Malay uber alles crowd are deathly afraid of the local council election.

In urban areas, they are afraid that non-Malays would dominate such councils and in Malay majority areas, they prefer to have less democracy.

Has PAS been fair?

If you think the last bit is controversial, just pay attention to what PAS operatives and other Malay uber alles types spew and you will see that democracy is the last thing on their minds.

When it comes to fairness, we also have to ask ourselves, has PAS been fair, in the way it has defended its political agenda when it comes to these syariah implementations in Kelantan?

Ever since this decision, PAS has attempted to craft a narrative that Islam is weakened under the Madani regime. When this decision came out, PAS claimed it was a “black day” for Muslims in this country.

Propagandists churn out articles claiming that the position of Islam and the royalty are in jeopardy. The women who brought this case have been threatened.

What really amazes me, and it really should not, is the fact that all these political operatives have no real interest in defending the sanctity of the Federal Constitution.

Maybe I am old-fashioned. After all, when I was with the state security apparatus, I took an oath to defend the king and country (country being the Constitution), so I retain this quaint idea that some documents and ideas are worth fighting for.

Hassan is a PKR political operative. One would have thought he could see the danger in PAS and Umno mooting the idea of amending the Constitution to “protect” Islam and its laws.

Is it fair to want to amend the Constitution to fit the religious imperatives of the majority? Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said that Malaysia was not a theocracy but how long can anyone really sustain this argument?

Do minorities’ concerns matter?

Which brings us to another important point. If all the Malay parties backed by the Malay electorate decided to make constitutional amendments to constitutionally disenfranchise minorities and their religions, would this be something Hassan could get behind?

And if you think this is farfetched, keep in mind that PAS has entered overt “Blut und Boden” (blood and soil) territory which was always there but now has become unhinged with the Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor wanting the Federal Constitution changed so Kedah could annex Penang and PAS claiming that Malay land in Penang has been “systematically seized” like Muslim land in Palestine has been seized by Jews.

After all, Hassan is really talking about majoritarianism here and nothing resembling the foundational ideas of liberal democracy.

People don’t support PAS because of their brilliant economic or social programmes - they support PAS because they believe they are the keepers of the faith.

Terrorizing you into submission

Here is another perspective. Supposing the majority, let us say 90 percent of Selangor voted in a state government which was purely secular and believed in meritocracy and created laws which propagated such ideas.

Would it matter if that 90 percent were made up of Muslims and non-Muslims, or does Hassan's fairness only apply when it is a solely Muslim majority? I suppose I know the answer to that.

This is why religious extremism is the existential threat facing this country.