“We are not a theocratic state with religious law being prescribed as the supreme law of the land. Neither should we be forced to live by the rule of religious diktats where decrees of religious bureaucrats have legal and punitive effect,” the letter said, quoted by Malaysian Insider.
The group defended Malaysia’s constitution and the secular basis on which the country was formed, and called for a return to a civil order that was “religion-neutral”, as well as respect for 10 key universal values introduced by the government in 1982.
Former judges, ambassadors, high-ranking civil servants, activists and other prominent Malaysians are among those who signed the letter, which comes five months after a group now called the 25 Eminent Malays had called for a defence of constitutional rule and a rational dialogue on Islam.
The new open letter listed the 10 values introduced in 1982 as part of a policy to inculcate universal Islamic virtues. These were: trust, responsibility, honesty, dedication, moderation, diligence, discipline, cooperation, honourable behaviour and thanksgiving.
“It is unfortunate that the policy of promoting these 10 values has become a platform for ‘Islamisation’ by religious bureaucrats,” the group said.
They said Malaysian unity had been torn apart by political leaders, among others, using sectarian views, creating stresses that threatened “to subvert the bonds that have held all Malaysians together” as well as the federation of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Public confidence in the legal system has eroded because “diktats of the religious bureaucrats are given an overarching significance over the constitution”.
Religious bureaucrats had halted reforms, such as the Domestic Violence Act 1994, held back for almost two years, and a stillborn law reform initiative protecting religious rights when one spouse in a civil marriage converts to Islam.
There were serious problems in the judiciary, when some civil courts had declined to make decisions on constitutional issues and had even handed over the duty to the Syariah Court.
Freedom of religion had been affected, as well as the religious and civil rights of non-Muslims whose religions were increasingly marginalised, with more non-tolerance being shown, the group said.
They urged the Federal Government to reaffirm its position on the 10 universal values.
Among the signatories were former ambassadors Albert Talalla, Lily Zachariah and Choo Siew Kioh; former senior civil servants Clifford Francis Herbert and K.J. Abraham; activist Hartini Zainudin, legal luminaries Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, Stephen Foo Kiat Shin and Stanley Isaacs; scientist Dr Lyana Khairuddin; and Bob Teoh, former general-secretary of National Union of Journalists.
In December, 25 prominent Malays, now grown to 44, had criticised the lack of clarity about the place of Islam in Malaysia’s constitutional democracy, and religious authorities “asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction”, such as fatwa in violation of the constitution. Former senior civil servants and prominent individuals, all Malays, signed the letter.
When being secular / neutral is good!
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