Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Najib’s warped understanding of extremism Posted: 10 Sep 2011 10:48 AM PDT By Mariam Mokhtar Can Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak gauge the subtle distinctions (or should I say, 'the glaring differences'?) between extremists and the excrescence of society? In a letter to The Times, UK, Najib thanked the British for helping Ashraf Haziq, the Malaysian student who was caught up in the London riots and set upon by thugs, who then robbed him on the pretext of helping him. Najib said: "Thank you for helping a young Malaysian in his hour of need, and thank you for proving once again, that London is a city where outsiders are welcome but extremists are not". According to the official report by Bernama, Najib described the incident as senseless, callous and brutal which had 'shocked Malaysians to the core'. He said: "Many of us have spent time in your city and have a great affection for it, but this was a side to London that none of us had seen before and we began to wonder if it had changed, if our memories had become tinted with nostalgia, or even if we were mistaken in the first place." He then praised the British for condemning the people who had attacked Ashraf and said: "This wave of anger was followed by a huge outpouring of concern, assistance and support. In an age where some still try to drive wedges between races and religions, the ordinary people of Britain did not hesitate to open their hearts to a young Malaysian Muslim". Najib then compared the attack on Ashraf with the fight against extremism and made reference to the speech which he had made at the 65th session at the UN headquarters in New York in September 2010. In his letter, Najib recalled how he had urged world leaders to fight extremism of all kinds by establishing a global 'Movement of the Moderates' whereby the ordinary people of all races, religions and political persuasions were prepared to stand up to the extremists and defend the values they believed in. He said, "It is those values, an acceptance of others, a strong sense of right and wrong and above all, a rejection of extreme and violent behaviour, that have been defended so vigorously by the people of Britain in recent weeks". Last year at the UN, he had said: "We must urgently reclaim the centre and the moral high ground that has been usurped from us. We must choose negotiations over confrontation. We must choose to work together and not against each other. And we must give this effort utmost priority for time is not on our side." Politics of distraction
However, Malaysians will also remember that prior to his speech at the UN, he had lectured us about extremism but his message then, was vague and non-committal. He was afraid to name the extremists in Malaysia and had shown no resolve to punish them either. He was fearful of the political backlash that would ensue if he were to censure the extremists, and he lacked political will to stand behind the people. He said, we must 'defend the values we believe in, we must choose negotiations over confrontation and we should work together, not against each other'. So how does he explain what happened in the run-up to July 9 this year, the day of the Bersih 2.0 rally, when scores of people were arrested, and intimidated? Can Najib explain why thousands of people, who supported true democracy and clean elections, were set upon by the police, on his orders? Doesn't he know that Malaysians have a strong sense of right and wrong and it is Najib's brand of politics, which encompasses the politics of distraction and the politics of division, which is destroying us? In reality, whose definition of 'values' is he trying to defend? He still has not said why he dodged all attempts to negotiate with the Bersih organisers, for an amicable compromise?
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