BALANCING IDEOLOGY & HUMAN RIGHTS

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa

Dr Mujahid, who oversees religious affairs, courted controversy when he ordered the removal of the portraits of transgender advocate Nisha Ayub and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activist Pang Khee Teik from a photo exhibition in Penang.

This is in stark contrast to his statements made in Parliament, where he once stressed that LGBTs enjoyed rights under the Federal Constitution against discrimination.

Mujahid is the son of Yusof Rawa, former PAS president. He wrested the Parit Buntar seat from the then Umno ruling party in 2008 as a PAS candidate.

He repeated this feat for the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in GE13, but subsequently pledged his allegiance to the Parti Amanah Negara, a spin-off from the Islamist party, in GE14.

Mujahid once said the birth of Amanah was unavoidable because of an underlying ideological conflict between progressives and conservatives in PAS.

Although the Amanah vice-president is known to have progressive views, he has always been consistently conservative on LGBT issues.

While he has acknowledged the right of LGBT community to practise their lifestyle, they are still subjected to existing laws.