This, he said, was done through Najib’s inaction which allowed for the widely differing interpretations of the proposed amendments to the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as Act 355.
The proposal has, for over a year, been dubbed as the “Hudud Bill”, with many later claiming it was merely a way for PAS to implement stricter Islamic laws in Kelantan and later on, throughout Malaysia.
Najib had remained silent over the matter, although the minister in charge of religious affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom, had on several occasions attempted to explain that the proposal was meant solely to enhance the Shariah Court’s powers to mete out harsher punishments.
This, however, was insufficient as Najib, with the goal of protecting his position as prime minister, had sacrificed racial and religious harmony by refusing to clear the air himself, Rafizi alleged.
“The Muslims are split between those who believe the refusal to support the motion is tantamount to a rejection of Allah’s decree and those who do not subscribe to the view.
“The non-Muslims generally believe that a vote on the motion proposed by Hadi is equivalent to hudud implementation,” the Pandan MP said in a scathing open letter to Najib.
“It is as if you (Najib) want the Muslims to view the non-Muslims as being anti-Islam and, similarly, you want the non-Muslims to be vocally opposed to this so that the Muslims will view each Chinese, Indian, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist as being anti-Islam.”
He warned that the alleged manipulation of Hadi’s proposal may transform into hatred as Muslims and non-Muslims will consider the other as having breached the code of mutual respect that says one community shall not meddle in the religious affairs of another.
“If you are truly concerned about the well-being of multiracial Malaysians, you could have clarified from the outset that Act 355 does not have the legal power to enact amputations, stoning to death, beheading or any of the much feared punishments that the opponents of shariah laws often talked about.
“(And) when there is an overlap of jurisdiction (between criminal and Shariah Courts) for a particular offence, it is the criminal courts that shall administer the legal process because the power over policing and home security lies with the federal government.
“But you may have chosen to be quiet personally over this very basic rule because it benefits you when the rakyat generally does not understand the distinction.”
Rafizi also took Najib and his Barisan Nasional government to task for the Red Shirts “thugs” whom he said had provoked racial sentiments, spewed criminal intimidation and threatened racial bloodbaths.
This will ultimately position the race-religion axis as the most emotive national issue of Malaysia to the detriment of the suffering rakyat, he added.
“If you think you can wield all the resources you can muster as the prime minister to dictate the course of events when high emotions from these issues collide with each other, you are wrong.
“You will be swept away just as the very foundation of our tolerant multiracial and multi-faith society will be broken into pieces.”