FMT 10 April 2015
PETALING JAYA: The amendments to the Sedition Act 1948 will render Malaysians much like the Russians under Stalin, said Zaid Ibrahim in his latest blog posting today.
Commenting on how the Act was going against the very principles of freedom of speech, the former law minister said the new sedition law would make Malaysians no better than “dead men walking” where uttering anything even remotely religious in nature could land one in prison should another take offence and lodge a police report about it.
He also said, “No other country in the world puts religion in the public sphere and makes it a central part of government policy, knowing it will cause racial and religious divide; yet declares any comment on religion, which is inevitable if you want to talk about the policy, can be an act of sedition.”
Unleashing his fury at the implications of the amendments to the draconian Act, Zaid detailed a number of seemingly harmless scenarios that could see one behind bars in the blink of an eye simply because he criticised a fatwa, made an unflattering comment about the courts, voiced an observation about the number of mosques in his neighbourhood or questioned the quota system in this country.
“There are thousands of other instances I can give you to show how perilous the country’s situation is. We are each becoming a prisoner of this regime – this is how fascist governments have worked throughout history.
“They use their power to create chaos, then use their laws to send people to jail, so as to ensure total obedience,” he said.
He also noted how ironic it was that the Sedition Act was supposedly enforced to maintain harmony in the country when it was the government’s policies and actions that caused disharmony to begin with.
“It’s the leaders who created chaos by their racist policies and actions which then cause anger, and deep polarisation in the country,” he said and added, “These laws are made not to maintain harmony, but to maintain the government in power.”
He also made a reference to prime minister Najib Razak, implying that religious and racial tension reached an all time high under his leadership when he said, “There was no lack of harmony before this Prime Minister came to power, and there will be harmony if the people of this country are left on their own ways, undisturbed.”
Saying no one was spared under the new sedition law, not BN Muslim MPs, whom he cautioned against being “smug”, nor non-Muslims, whom he warned about being “prepared to serve time”, Zaid likened the situation in Malaysia to that of Russia under Stalin, and said, “The noose is getting tighter. We are experiencing what the Russians endured when Stalin was in power. We might be looking at one of our own.”