Talk things out rather than enact more laws

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of religious affairs, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, recently announced that the government would enact a Religious and Racial Hatred Act to protect Islam and other religions in the country against slurs and insults. The minister further said that the proposed Bill would safeguard religious and ethnic harmony in the country.

Although this statement should have come from the National Unity and Social Wellbeing Minister, Dr Mujahid’s good intention is welcomed. But don’t we already have laws which aim to achieve similar results? Should we further expose ourselves to the risk of selective prosecution by enacting more laws?

Punishing someone for making a hate speech is not a long-term solution when the ideology that gives rise to such prejudice and hatred is not addressed. Racial and religious misunderstandings are best resolved through open dialogues supported by broadly inclusive pol- icies. Prosecuting an individual will simply fortify hatred and leave the issue of intolerance unaddressed.

What we desperately need is for politicians to publicly rebuke in the strongest terms incidents that denigrate or mock our diversity, be it racial or religious. We do not see this happening as race and religion are continuously being used as tools to pursue political ambitions.

I would recommend that the government focuses on strengthening the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), which was set up in 2013, to enable it to continue building bridges of harmony among the various races and religions in Malaysia, supported by inclusive policies rather than enacting new laws.

To achieve the desired results, let us all work hand in glove to solve the root cause of the problem rather than propose more laws which could make the situation worse instead of better.