Mahathir unjustifiably referred to the rule
of law in order to support his vitriolic statement. His statement makes a
mockery of the cherished principle of the rule of law.
āRule of
lawā means a set of principles and ideals for ensuring an orderly and
just society. As such, this phrase should not be used wantonly, and more
so, with the ill intention of misleading the public.
When the
phrase ārule of lawā is deliberately misused and linked to the Federal
Constitution without basis for political agenda, it is a travesty and a
complete disservice to the Federal Constitution and to our country.
The Federal Constitution enshrines the rights of citizens to practise
religions other than Islam, in peace and harmony; and while Islam is
declared as the religion of the nation, there is no restriction under
the supreme law of our land for others to profess and practise their
respective faiths.
Mutual respect and holding each of us to that
value has carried and held us together since the Federal Constitution
was put in place by the framers of the constitution, having considered
the diversity of our nation.
The fabric of our Federal
Constitution is based on multiracial aspirations. Whilst some attempts
have been made to derail the true narrative of the constitution, it has
rarely been used so blatantly, that would result in the regression of
all that we have achieved thus far.
Interfaith harmony
It
is, therefore, timely yet again for the Malaysian Bar to reiterate its
call for the enactment of the National Harmony Bills. We have
consistently advocated the enactment of national harmony laws to promote
unity, integration, and interfaith harmony in our country.
In
order to achieve the balance of upholding freedom of speech while
maintaining public security, the Malaysian Bar has proposed three bills
to replace the Sedition Act 1948 ā namely, the Racial and Religious Hate
Crimes Bill, the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, and the
National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill.
The objective
of the Racial and Religious Hate Crimes Bill is to promote and preserve
national harmony by making it a criminal offence to incite racial and
religious hatred.
The National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill
seeks to capture the rights entrenched in Article 8 of the Federal
Constitution ā that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to
equal protection of the law. The bill is to prevent unfair
discrimination of persons based on race, religion, gender, and other
distinguishing characteristics, and it imposes an obligation on the
government and all persons to promote equality.
Finally, we have also proposed the National Harmony and
Reconciliation Commission Bill which is tasked, among others, to promote
awareness, educate, and make recommendations to the government for the
purpose of national unity. The bill would also empower the commission to
constitute an Unfair Discrimination Tribunal to inquire into complaints
of unfair discrimination.
The role of this commission ā
consisting of commissioners from various racial, religious, and
political backgrounds ā would play a key function in being a
coordination point between the government, civil society organisations,
and various stakeholders to engage in a more robust discussion about
national integration.
The commission would also be empowered to
investigate claims of unfair discrimination and could constitute a
tribunal to compel witnesses to come forward, as well as receive
evidence in inquiries.
Constructive debate
Malaysia
is made up of diverse races and faiths, and instead of politicians
resorting to hateful speech and hurling accusatory remarks to score
political points, more efforts should be channelled towards promoting
constructive debate and dialogue between the various groups to foster
greater open-mindedness and to embrace our diversity, and recognise that
that is what strengthens the nation.
We ought to be proud of our
uniqueness as a multicultural society, and we urge our unity government
to thoroughly consider these proposed bills to ensure that a culture of
acceptance is cultivated among the rakyat.
Constitutional values
and aspirations of the country need to be internalised for the greater
good of all, not by selective and misleading interpretation of our
Federal Constitution for political reasons and self-interest.
KAREN CHEAH YEE LYNN is president of the Malaysian Bar.
