By Steven Sim, MP for Bukit Mertajam
For the past one month, the people in Iraq have been living in hell on earth as ISIS, a terrorist organisation hiding behind the name of a religion of peace, terrorises the country.
International press has reported persecutions and massacres of religious minorities in the areas taken over by ISIS. It was also reported that women and children were being buried alive and women were taken as slaves. Meanwhile, thousands of others were displaced as terror swept across their land.
Our neighbour, Indonesia, a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, has issued a ban on ISIS, reflecting a strong condemnation of its terrorist activities in the Middle East as well as its recruitment of locals into its rank.
Meanwhile in Malaysia, the last we hear about ISIS from Prime Minister Najib Razak was his commendation of the terrorist group’s “fighting spirit” for the ruling party UMNO to emulate.
Najib himself must issue a strong condemnation of ISIS
During the Parliamentary sitting in June this year, the Foreign Ministry has sought an additional RM20 million under the 2014 Supplementary Supply Bill to lobby for Malaysia to secure a non-permanent seat in the United Nations’ Security Council.
Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said that the seat “would send a strong message of peace and right to co-exist” and Malaysia can play a part in international security issues.
While I applaud the effort of the Foreign Ministry to secure a stronger voice for Malaysia in matters of global peace, I fear the effort will be in vain if Prime Minister Najib does not issue a strong condemnation against ISIS given his earlier commendation of their “bravery”.
Malaysia must by all means distance itself from such extremism and terrorism if we are to be a credible actor in the global peace effort.
Malaysia can do more for global peace and reject all forms of extremism, starting with our own backyard
Here, I also want to echo my Pakatan Rakyat colleague, Nurul Izzah Anwar, MP for Lembah Pantai, in calling for the government to use its presence in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to pressure Islamic countries to do more for the weak and vulnerable in warfare.
The DAP and our colleagues in Pakatan Rakyat have over the years called for Malaysia to be more proactive in our role towards global peace and rejection of extremism be it in Iraq or Palestine or Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Najib’s regime had boasted of his diplomatic prowess dubbed “quiet diplomacy” in his successful negotiation with Ukraine separatists during the MH17 crisis. Yet the MH17 atrocity is precisely why Malaysia must demonstrate a greater concern for world peace. A conflict seemly unrelated to us in Eastern Europe had eventually brought great tragedy upon Malaysians. The globalised world is much more connected than ever. Being quiet is not enough to protect our citizens from extremism taking place around the world.
Finally, we have also called on the government to reject all forms of extremism in our own country. If the Malaysian government tolerates, or even encourages, local forms of “zionism”, “aryanism” and religious extremism, then our condemnation of “zionism” elsewhere is only hypocrisy.
