Malay Studies expert rejects Asri’s explanation on poem
‘Why didn’t Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin post poem when Prime Minister Najib Razak was in India, or when Indian PM Modi had visited Malaysia?’
But not when there is an ongoing debate and controversy surrounding Indian preacher Zakir Naik, said Mohd Faizal Musa, a Research Fellow at University Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Malay World and Civilisation Institute.
“He (Asri) can, should, and would look like a champion if the criticism was made when our nation’s leaders were in India, which according to Asri in his poem, is a ‘tyrannical government that worships fire and is a sati devotee’,” Faizal told FMT.
Prime Minister Najib Razak made an official visit to India from March 30 to April 5, where he and his counterpart Narendra Modi agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership.
Faizal, who is better known by his pen name Faisal Tehrani, and who was a recipient of the National Arts Award, was commenting on Asri’s defence of his poem which was uploaded on his Facebook page last Friday.
The poem had among others, slammed a group who “worships cows” and practises the caste system, for attacking “our preacher”.
Asri didn’t name the preacher, but it came in the midst of protests by Hindu groups against the government’s protection of Naik, who is wanted by Indian authorities for alleged money laundering and for “promoting hatred”.
Asri’s poem was removed from his Facebook page yesterday, following criticism and police reports lodged against the mufti, who had time and time again come to the defence of Naik.
Asri, however, stood by his poem, saying it had nothing to do with Naik, but was merely about the Modi-led Indian government’s policy, which he claimed had acted cruelly against the Muslims for slaughtering cows, an animal which is considered sacred by the Hindus.
Faizal said the excuse couldn’t be accepted, citing a United Nation’s document published in 2013 which had given a guideline on how a statement can be considered as promoting racial and religious hatred.
Under the UN’s 2013 Rabat Plan of Action, a speech must be viewed from its social and political context, in line with the time it was disseminated, to evaluate whether it was meant to instil hatred.
And according to Faizal, Asri’s poem didn’t meet the requirements. He said if the poem was really meant for Modi and not the Hindus in general, then it would have been more appropriate if it was made when Modi visited Malaysia for the officiating of the Torana Gate in Little India, Brickfields, in Kuala Lumpur in November 2015.
“Asri had two opportunities, as mentioned above, to criticise Modi at the appropriate time, or as stated in the 2013 Rabat Plan of Action, in the appropriate context,” he said further to FMT.
“If the poem was made during the two occasions, then the 2013 Rabat Plan of Action defined it as a ‘freedom of speech’, or merely a criticism from an individual. That should be respected, not condemned.
“If we analyse the context, as stated in the 2013 Rabat Plan of Action, we can suggest that Asri’s ‘Friday poem’ was not part of the permissible right to freedom of speech,” Faizal said.
Faizal then compared Asri’s poem to a similar criticism made by constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi, which was reported by the media but was not met with the same hostility.
He was referring to Faruqi’s statement made at a forum at Universiti Malaya in May 2015, on the use of religion by Modi’s party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and how bloodshed can occur due to the actions of irresponsible people who place a cow’s head in a temple, or a pig’s head in a mosque.
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“But he wasn’t criticised by the public, especially by the Hindus here. This is because his statement was made in the right context,” Faizal added.