Four Male Witnesses Again

By Syed Akbar Ali

I had a disappointing morning today, along with about 200 other people. We were waiting for a talk on the 'Future of Islamic Civilisation' by an eminent speaker from overseas, an Arab sheikh. He was due to start the talk at 9:45 am. Until 12.00 PM there was no sign of him. Does not bode well for the future.

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To keep the guests occupied, someone played a You Tube video of the sheikh on the screen. The You Tube video was in Arabic, which many people did not understand. Ironically also the You Tube video was titled 'Etiquette in Attaining Knowledge'.

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Anyway, here is a recent news report from the NST

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) has launched its own investigations into the sex video clip . . following the police report lodged by Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) . . . under Section 41 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Act for Qazaf . . . . anyone who accuses another person of committing adultery must have four witnesses, a confession from the accused and strong evidence. . . (JAWI) is now looking for witnesses to facilitate their investigations.

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Read more: Religious dept begins probe into sex video cliphttp://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/6fian/Article/#ixzz1JeiYXmMj

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How interesting. Do you think they will ever succeed in their investigations? In the Quran, Allah says that He is just. And the Quran also tells us to stand up for justice (qaa iman bil qist).

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Just for your information : "Pertuduhan qazaf ialah membuat tuduhan terhadap seseorang yang melakukan zina tanpa membawa empat saksi lelaki, dan jika sabit kesalahan boleh dihukum maksimum penjara tiga tahun atau denda RM5,000 atau kedua-duanya sekali"

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The requirement for 'four witnesses' by the religious authorities is not so straightforward as reported by the NST. It has to be four MALE witnesses. Then they must also be of GOOD CHARACTER.

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GOOD CHARACTER is also determined by whether the FOUR MALES had attended the Friday prayers without any break for three consecutive weeks. There may be other views on this, because this is also extra-Quranic, not from the Quran (We also have to ask the scholars the relevant time period, ie three consecutive Fridays before they witnessed the adultery, during the trial or when?)

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I must remind you that these prescriptions are EXTRA QURANIC. Meaning they are not found in the Quran. This is a point of accuracy only.

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One commentor keeps repeating that I am not showing the Quranic verse that requires four witnesses for ZINA. To be precise, my quick answer is, there are no verses which mention ZINA explicitly and then state that ZINA requires four witnesses. I cannot show you a verse that does not exist. If anyone knows of any such explicit verses in the Quran which require four witnesses for ZINA, please show us these verses. Thanking you in advance.

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Back to the topic, so even if there were say 10 witnesses of the ZINA but they were all women, then their evidence is of no use, it is not admissible. For ZINA only four male witnesses are accepted. As I said this is not found in the Quran. It is extra Quranic.

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The Police have already interviewed the Chinese girl in the video. We can safely assume that she is not a Muslim. For the purposes of the Qazaf investigation reported by the NST above, being a non Muslim Chinese female and a person who does not attend the Friday prayers, can she be of any use at all as a witness? I dont think so. So what remains is the real culprit – the second person involved in the zina. Can we expect him to confess to the zina? I dont think he is that crazy.

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Then there is one of the three Dato T, who was in the video. But he did not witness the actual 'batang celak masuk ke dalam botol celak' - which is a requirement of the religious people.

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Their law requires that the FOUR MALE witnesses of good character must actually stand around and keep their eyes intensely focussed on the actual act of penetration. Thats where the 'batang celak masuk ke dalam botol celak' comes from. (And you thought I made it up !!) Nope, its their legal terminology. So in this case, even the Dato T's witness goes out the window because he did not witness the 'batang celak'.

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Hence for the Qazaf investigation, the entire “case” will be thrown out the window. No four male witnesses, no zina. Culprit walks scot free. Instead the three persons who made the accusation (the Dato T trio) can be found guilty of Qazaf. Now isn't that neat?

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Now do you see why some clever people insist they want to solve some of their ‘hanky panky’ problems in the religious court ?

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So folks, what do you think? Is this justice? You are entitled to your answer. I dont know what your answer will be but it will depend a lot on whether your head is screwed correctly onto your shoulders or not. Here is a clue : please be honest.

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Now here is another news report from The Star:

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"Boyfriend and five others strip and abuse 14-year-old in abandoned house

DUNGUN: ".. a horrifying outing for a 14-year-old girl who ended up being gang-raped . . Instead of sending her to her house in Jalan Bunga Raya, the friend took her to an abandoned house in Batu Tujuh, where six men .. were waiting at about 1am. . They then took turns to rape her for several hours . ."

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Again if we apply the FOUR MALE WITNESSES requirement, where is this 14 year old girl going to find four male witnesses of good character to testify that she was gang raped? All the males who witnessed her rape were the rapists. Certainly not of good character at all.

In Pakistan, women who were raped and became pregnant as a result of the rape, ended up being jailed for adultery instead. Here is a picture of some of these women in jail in Pakistan. This picture is from the time of President Musharraf.

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Some or most of these women in the picture were imprisoned for 'zina' because they could not bring four male witnesses to testify that they had been raped (and they had become pregnant - you can see them holding babies in the picture). So without four male witnesses they were instead jailed for committing adultery. If any of them were brave enough to ACCUSE (Qazaf) any man of raping them, then they could also be charged in the Pakistani (kangaroo) courts for Qazaf too.Double jeopardy. So where is the justice?

Eventually President Pervez Musharraf signed a Law to help such women get out of jail. However Musharraf was thrown out of office and now even the rapists are wondering what happened to the Law that he signed.

So in theory at least, it is possible for the seven guys in Dungun who were arrested for gang rape to go to the religious authorities and file a complaint of Qazaf against the 14 year old girl. And cant they also file a complaint against the Police who arrested them for gang rape? I am just wondering lah.

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I am simply using the same logic lah. If the seven guys in Dungun file a complaint of Qazaf with the religious authorities, then the 14 year old girl can also be held liable. Since the Police arrested them, the Police can also be liable for Qazaf.

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Then both the 14 year old girl and the Police must bring four male witnesses of good character, to testify in the religious court that they witnessed the girl being gang raped. If they cannot bring four male witnesses, then both the 14 year old girl and the Police can be or must be held liable for Qazaf. What do you think? I am just following through with the logic.

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If you dont agree with me, think of it this way. Say there was no Police Station, set up according to the secular, British based legal system we have in Malaysia. Then the girl would have been taken straight to the local religious authorities - like what happened to the Pakistani women in the picture above. Then they would have asked the girl to produce four male witnesses. This is what happened in Pakistan. Of course she cannot produce four male witnesses. So instead she can be held for Qazaf - accusing the seven males of gang raping her without bringing four witnesses.

A commentor did ask me about two verses in the Quran which he felt were proof that the Quran requires four witnesses for ZINA (in capital letters for my emphasis)

24:13 Mengapa mereka tidak membawa empat orang saksi membuktikan tuduhan itu. oleh kerana mereka tidak mendatangkan empat orang saksi, maka mereka itu pada sisi allah, adalah orang yang dusta;

24:4 Orang yang melemparkan tuduhan kepada perempuan yang terpelihara kehormatannya, kemudian mereka tidak membawakan empat orang saksi, maka sebatlah mereka lapan puluh kali sebatan dan janganlah kamu menerima penyaksian mereka itu selama-lamanya; kerana mereka adalah orang yang fasiq.

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I have replied in some detail. The quick and the short answer is the Arabic word ZINA is not found in these two verses. You can please check by yourself.

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However it will be useful to repeat the story of the Prophet Joseph:

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Surah 12:26 "He said, "She is the one who tried to seduce me." A witness from her familysuggested: "If his garment is torn from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is a liar."

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The King's wife had accused Joseph of trying to seduce her. Joseph was found innocent of the charge through forensic evidence - a witness from the accuser's own family suggested to look at Joseph's shirt. If it was torn from the front, he was lying. If it was torn from the back, then the woman was lying. The shirt was torn from the back, proving that the King's wife was trying to seduce him.

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Please also note that 'a witness from her family' is referring to a woman. The arabic is like this : "washahida shahidun min ahliha" (This refers to a female witness). Do check it out for yourself. Bukan saya tulis. Jangan marah saya ok.

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So in the story of the Prophet Joseph in the Quran, the witness (shahida) of just one woman was accepted which was instrumental to free a Prophet of God from a vicious accusation.

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You may ask "Why repeat the story of Joseph? Apa kena mengena?" The purpose of the Quran repeating what happened to the Messengers is many fold. Here are two of them :

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[11:120] We narrate to you enough history of the messengers to strengthen your heart

[40:54] (Their history) is a lesson and a reminder for those who possess intelligence.

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In the Quran forensic evidence brought forward by a single female witness proved the innocence of the Prophet Joseph. We must strengthen our hearts and take lessons from this history too. However this is only "for those who possess intelligence'.

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But what if people insist on saying 'tidak boleh menggunakan akal' ? What shall be the future of the civilisation then? .

SUPP tells Chinese reps to make way for bumiputra assemblymen

KUCHING: The SUPP leadership has decided that its Chinese assemblymen should not accept government positions, declaring that Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh's appointment to the state Cabinet as a “personal decision.”

In a statement, the party central secretariat said it had recommended its four bumiputra assemblymen for appointment as ministers and assistant ministers.

The decision was made after the party failed to obtain the mandate from the Chinese community in the state election.

The decision has been conveyed to the state Barisan leadership.

Of the 19 seats contested, the party only retained six, two of which were Chinese-majority Bawang Assan (Wong) and Senadin (Datuk Lee Kim Shin).

Wong, who is SUPP deputy secretary-general, said he would give a full explanation on his personal decision at the appropriate time.

Meanwhile, SUPP treasurer Datuk David Teng said the poor election result should spur the party to reform.

“We did not discuss the decision by Wong. We briefly talked about the reform plan and the party's future,” he said at the party's headquarters here after meeting some branch representatives.

With regards to the party's next president, he said it would be decided by SUPP's grassroots. - The star Online

Najib's personal touch led to big Barisan win

KUCHING: Barisan Nasional's win in Sarawak must hold a special meaning for BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whose untiring campaign and sheer energy helped cement the victory.

Najib's campaign schedule in the recent election was punishing by any standard.

Days packed with a 14-hour schedule, even 16 hours, were the norm for the 58-year-old prime minister. Najib's hectic schedule saw him criss-crossing the state -- the size of the peninsula -- to reach as many voters as possible in the 10-day campaign period.


He reportedly saw more of Sarawak in the 10 days than his two years in office.

A fleet of helicopters made it possible for Najib to reach many of the rural areas.

Everywhere he went, he did his famous walkabouts, as he sought to get close to the public and hear their problems and aspirations.


Najib set the tone for the campaign when he launched the "Sejiwa Senada" programme in Serian, 65km from here, on March 19.

Before flying off to Serian, he "connected" with his Facebook friends in a breakfast meeting at the old state assembly building in Petra Jaya.
Joining him at the launch of the "Sejiwa Senada" programme were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who also made several visits to the state, and Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Najib went on a walkabout in Serian town, where he met shopkeepers and traders before having lunch with communal leaders.

A quick lunch, then it was off to a meet-the-leader gathering in Semera in Sadong Jaya, 10 minutes by helicopter but a 90-minute drive by road. Then he returned to Kuala Lumpur.

The campaign visits were brief. But they generated excitement and much enthusiasm as Najib had ventured to places no other prime minister had ever gone.

It was excitement that drove hundreds to come out to catch a glimpse of Najib and listen to his views.

Najib's visit to the Stutong market on April 10 set off a frenzy and it was replicated in many of his walkabouts.

Vegetable seller Chin Sing Chong, 71, could hardly contain his joy when the prime minister signed a shirt on his back.

This hospitality and warmth accorded to Najib at the market was repeated in towns like Saratok, Betong, Sibu, Kapit and Limbang Lawas in the next few days.

Najib made five trips to Sarawak and covered programmes like the launch of Standard Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia's (Sirim) "pintar" and "robokit" in the coastal resort of Santubong, near here, and joined prayers at village surau.

The prime minister's campaign trail was so tightly packed that he flew straight here on April 10 from Seoul, after an official visit.

No function was too small for him. Even a visit to a futsal court was included. And that generated much excitement and a chance to meet more people.

Najib's message everywhere, whether in Betong, Kapit or Satok, was the same.

His enthusiasm and willingness to rub shoulders with ordinary people made a lot of difference to BN.

He asked the people to pick their leaders based on a realistic choice and not emotion or rhetoric of the opposition.

"The future of Sarawak depends on who can deliver more and better, not only in developing more basic infrastructure in rural areas.

"Improvement in the quality of life, improvement in how people live and improvement in the harmonious relations among the various races," Najib said on his campaign trail in Kapit to declare open the new express boat terminal there.

Najib also emphasised that strong cooperation between the federal and state governments was important for an efficient service delivery.

Conducting a polls post-mortem, Najib said: "We gave hope to the people when we said we can make changes and bring transformation to the state, which the people have accepted, especially the government transformation programme."

The momentum of change will be stepped up so that BN can maintain the people's support, which it looks for in the 13th general election.

Without a doubt, Najib going on the campaign trail helped bring victory to BN.- NST Online

Mukhriz: Urban Chinese will get nothing in the end

PASIR MAS: Urban Chinese who shunned Barisan Nasional in the Sarawak election will be the ultimate losers as the state is too ethnically diversified for the Opposition to form the state government, said Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

“Sarawak has over 25 ethnic groups and it is near impossible for the Opposition to win all their hearts and form a new state government,” said the Jerlun MP.

“Therefore, it is unfortunate for the urban Chinese. DAP cannot make any changes to the voters’ lives in terms of socio-economic aspects,” he said, adding that the scenario was unlike in Penang where DAP was able to fulfil the promises it made to the voters.

In the April 16 elections, DAP won 12 of the 15 predominantly urban Chinese seats it contested in, suggesting that the Chinese had rejected Barisan Nasional.

“I believe the Chinese were unhappy with something and Barisan is looking into this matter,” said the Deputy International Trade and Industries Minister after opening SM Sultan Ibrahim I here yesterday.

In PORT KLANG, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad labelled DAP leaders as racist, accusing them of deceiving the Chinese into voting for the party.

“They have torn the Chinese apart from the rest of the races,” he told reporters after launching a cutter suction dredger Inai Liatree at the Selat Melaka Shipbuilding Corporation Sdn Bhd shipyard near Westport here.

Earlier in his blog, Dr Mahathir said a two-party system based on race would not contribute to stability or national unity.

He said Malaysia faced a grave danger of being divided by two parties. “One, Malay-dominated by default and the other – Chinese, by choice.”

DAP, he said, had destroyed Barisan’s power and its wealth-sharing formula by separating the Chinese from the rest.

“I congratulate DAP for bringing its racist politics to Sarawak,” he said sarcastically. “Before this, all races co-operated well with each other for the good of Sarawak. Now the Chinese community in Sarawak has rejected multi-racialism.”- The Star Online

Political Analyst : Chinese Community in a Dilemma

KUCHING, 17 APRIL, 2011: With the Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) now ranking fourth in the state Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition following its disastrous performance in yesterday's state polls, the Chinese community is facing a dilemma.

Previously the state BN's second largest component party, it suffered the highest casualty when it lost 13 out of 19 seats contested, including in Piasau, which saw its president and deputy chief minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan defeated by newcomer Ling Sie Kiong of the DAP.

A political analyst, Dr Jeniri Amir, said today the Chinese would be facing a Catch 22 situation because the community was going to carry less political weight due to a lack of representation in the state cabinet.    

"This is the reality. They (Chinese) have to accept the far-reaching implication because they have made their decision which will cause them to be further alienated," he told Bernama here.

On the other hand, he said, the Bumiputera community, including the Bidayuh would protest if they did not get any representation in the government for helping to win seats for SUPP.

SUPP barely retained its mostly mixed Chinese-Bumiputera seats of Bawang Assan, Opar, Bengoh, Senadin, Simanggang and Engkili but lost 12 urban Chinese-majoirty seats to DAP and another three to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Dr Jeniri, who is also Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) social sciences faculty senior lecturer said the ruling coalition would have to take care of the sentiments of the bumiputeras in the party, who wanted to see their own leaders appointed in the cabinet.

Unlike the appointment of defeated candidates as senators in the federal cabinet, he said it had never been a practice in Sarawak to enable those who lost in the state election to remain or appointed as ministers.

So far the most senior SUPP elected representative is party deputy secretary-general Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, the Second Finance Minister cum Environment and Public Health Minister, who retained his Bawang Assan seat.

Yesterday's 10th state election saw SUPP's seats further reduced from the 11 seats won in the May 2006 state election.- Malayasian Digest

Sarawak Chinese infected by DAP racism, says Dr M

Dr Mahathir ‘congratulated’ the DAP for bringing its racist politics to Sarawak.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that the Chinese community in Sarawak has rejected multiracialism after being infected by the virus of Chinese racism that he said is the guiding principle of the DAP.

He also suggested that any DAP administration would only be ostensibly Malaysian.

The former prime minister accused the DAP of destroying the power-sharing formula that Barisan Nasional (BN) had implemented for half a century.

“I congratulate the DAP for bringing its racist politics to Sarawak. Before this all races co-operated well with each other for the good of Sarawak. Now we see clearly that the Chinese community in Sarawak has rejected multiracialism,” he wrote in his blog today.

“They have become infected by the virus of Chinese racism that is the guiding principle of the DAP,” said Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister.

On Saturday, the DAP won 12 mainly urban seats in the Sarawak state election by riding the anti-Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud sentiment.

Dr Mahathir said that the DAP in Sarawak, where it first established itself in 1978, was almost totally rejected in the past.

But after winning the lion’s share of Chinese-majority seats, “the DAP has destroyed this power and wealth-sharing formula by separating the Chinese from the rest,” he said.

“For more than half a century the races in Malaysia had worked together to build the nation. The world saw stable BN governments with power and wealth being shared by all races quite fairly.

“None of the races got everything that they considered they were entitled to — not the Malays, nor the Chinese, nor Indians, nor Ibans, Kadazans, etc. All had to give up something. That is the essence of sharing,” he wrote.

The DAP doubled its presence in the Sarawak state assembly from six to 12 seats in Saturday’s election, nearly wiping out its rival Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) in Chinese-majority seats where the latter only won in two such seats.

Dr Mahathir, who was PM from 1981 to 2003, said if the same pattern was seen in the next general election that is expected to be held in a year, it would split the country.

“Malaysia faces a grave danger of being divided by two parties — one Malay dominated by default and the other Chinese by choice. This will not be good for Malaysia. But this is what the DAP is striving for. A two-party system based on race will not contribute to stability much less national unity.

“I pray and hope that the Sarawak pattern is not repeated in this beloved country. Let us all think carefully whether we want to split up this country or we are prepared to sacrifice something of our own in order to maintain the stability and growth through the BN coalition,” he said.

He said that even though the DAP talked about a Malaysian Malaysia, it only appealed to the racial sentiments of the Chinese.

“Those Chinese who reject the DAP seem to be considered as non-Chinese by the DAP. The presence of a few Malays in the DAP is just window dressing,” he said.

He again accused the DAP of emulating Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in sidelining the Malays.

“It is the same as in Singapore where the PAP government sidelined their Malay supporters completely. The Malays make up 15 per cent of the island’s population but their share of political power and wealth of this very prosperous nation is about one per cent.

“Of course, Singapore is ruled by Singaporeans. The same would happen in Malaysia should the DAP rule this country. It would be ostensibly be Malaysian,” he added. - The Malaysian Insiders

Nawaitu sebenar Cina cauvanis

Perancangan dan usaha golongan minoriti Bukan Melayu terutama Chauvinis Cina tidak pernah serik ataupun muak dengan sikap degil dan mencabar mereka sehingga wajar dipertimbangkan sebagai bersifat ‘Tidak Berterima Kasih dan Taat Setia’.

Kedegilan dan kecenderungan melakukan provokasi, walaupun di’kaburi’ sebagai “Resolusi dari sebarang program diskusi intelektual dan ilmiah” sebenarnya tidak melenyapkan niat asas dan objektif yang ingin dicapai.

Walaupun telah dijelaskan Perdana Menteri Dato’ Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak semasa Perhimpunan Agung UMNO ke 61 pada 21-23 Oktober lepas bahawa peruntukan tertentu yang melibatkan orang Melayu dan ugama Islam seperti Artikel 3, 149, 152 dan 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan tidak boleh dipinda maka tidak perlu ianya dibincangkan samada secara intelektual atau terbuka (dalam bentuk referenduma tau sebagainya), namun ada yang masih lagi berdegil.

Perhimpunan Agung Gabungan Pertubuhan Cina Malaysia (Hua Zong) di Johor Bahru pada 6 Nov 2010 lalu telah meluluskan 36 usul berhubung politik, pendidikan, budaya, agama dan sosial. Kandungnnya sama dikatakan sama seperti tuntutan “Suqiu” 1999. Ianya dikatakan akan dikemukakan pada Kabinet tidak lama lagi.

Antara sebahagian dari 17 tuntutan Suqiu yang dimajukan oleh 2,093 NGO Cina ialah kesama rataan ugama, menghapuskan taraf ‘Bumiputra’, menghapuskan sistem ‘kuota’, kesama rataan peluang perniagaan semua peringkat, mengkaji dan memansuhkan Akta Pelajaran 1996 iaitu membenarkan sekolah dilaksanakan dengan bahasa ibunda masing masing dan menolak ‘Sekolah Wawasan’.

Dalam kongress ekonomi Cina yang dianjurkan MCA baru baru ini, isu mengenai kuota Bumiputra dan peluang untuk kontrak dari Kerajaan secara terbuka sepenuhnya telah dibangkitkan.

Tindakan tindakan kenyataan seperti ini yang mengundang reaksi orang Melayu, terutama mereka yang mendukung semangat nasionalism agar apa yang telah dicapai semasa negara ini ditubuhkan termasuk ‘Kontrak Sosial’ agar tidak dibangkit, jauh sekali dicabar.

Akibat desakan dan tuntutan masyarakat Bukan Melayu terutama minoriti dari etnik Cina yang makin sistematik, konsisten dan lantang, maka NGO Melayu seperti PERKASA dan Majlis Perundingan Melayu mula ditubuhkan dan mendapat perhatian intensif.

Walaupun keujudan dan meningkatnya populariti dan penerimaan NGO Melayu ini dikalangan orang Melayu sebenarnya adalah bersifat reaktif dan bertujuan untuk mempertahankan apa yang telah dipersetujui dan termaktub (termasuk dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan) bagi orang Melayu, ianya dilabel sebagai ‘rasisi’ dan ‘desakan amalan perkauman yang berpanjangan’ oleh Bukan Melayu, terutama golongan ekstremis dan chauvinis.

Beberapa hari lepas Timbalan Ketua Pengarang Kumpulan Utusan Dato’ Zaini Hassan mencadangkan agar setiap 13 Mei disambut secara positif sebagai ‘Hari Perpaduan’. Namun golongan Chauvinis Cina mula menyerang cadangan ini dan beberapa ADUN DAP telah membuat laporan Polis keatas Zaini.

Tindakan Hua Zong ini semestinya akan menerima reaksi negatif dan mungkin bernada emosi oleh orang Melayu, terutama setelah penjelasan tegas PM Dato’ Seri Najib pada ucapan penggulungan PAU ke 61 pada 23 Oktober 2010.

Ianya tidak akan melenyapkan rasa pra-sangka dan makin merenggangkan jurang antara kaum. Gagasan ’1 Malaysia’ makin akan sukar untuk dicapai bagi membawa Malaysia ke tahap yang lebih tinggi.

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