Anwar's multiracial platform at risk after racist protest by allies
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's multiracial ideology is under strain after some of his key Islamist supporters joined a protest in Malaysia that halted an interfaith forum on religious conversion.
Among those who brought an end to the Malaysian Bar's forum on Saturday were opposition lawmakers allied to Anwar. They carried banners with slogans insulting non-Muslims, shouting racist slogans as they broke police barriers and crashed into the bar council's head office. The forum, open to all, was held to discuss the status of non-Muslim children after one parent converts to Islam.
The protesters, who also forced Muslim speakers to quit the forum, argued that non-Muslims had no business talking about Islamic matters, saying that this was only for Muslims to debate.
'This is a very sensitive matter and they should stop the forum immediately,' said Salahuddin Ayub, an opposition lawmaker and youth leader in the Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), the fundamentalist party allied with Anwar's Keadilan in the opposition People's Alliance coalition.
'We had no choice but to end the forum shortly after it began,' said Bar Council vice-president Ragunath Kesavan. 'I feel outraged that ... open discussion is not possible.'
Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan, whose former home was attacked with petrol bombs on Saturday, said on Sunday that the council would not organise similar forums again. 'We face too many threats.'
Critics blame opposition lawmaker Zulkifli Noordin, a Muslim lawyer and an ally of Anwar, who led the protest.
He has since gone missing, with his colleagues alleging that police have arrested him for inciting racial hatred, a serious offence in the racially mixed country.
Politicians from Umno, the leading member of the ruling National Front coalition, also took part in the protest, which has sparked a national outcry at the 'high level of intolerance' shown against non-Muslims.
'Mr Zulkifly [sic] has disgraced himself and his party by behaving like a drunken sailor,' said one comment on Malaysia-today.net - a popular political site - giving expression to the general outrage at the protesters.
Prominent columnist Tay Tian Yan, in the mass circulation, Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily newspaper, wrote: 'Any sensible person will feel angry and fear for our future.'
The outrage comes as Anwar is about to fight a by-election battle on August 26 in the family stronghold of Permatang Pauh constituency in Penang. Here the support of non-Muslims - mostly Chinese, who form about 30 per cent of the 56,000-strong electorate - is crucial.
He is under pressure to act against party leaders who disrupted the forum and to reassert his political programme's multi-ethnic platform, endorsed by his supporters in the general election on March 8.
Anwar is expected to win and take his place at the head of the opposition. But his chances of engineering defections in the lower house to bring down the government and become prime minister appear increasingly unlikely. Adding to his woes is his pending trial on charges of sodomy.
The government is playing on Malays' fears to regain ground, saying Anwar's 'reform agenda' is actually helping Malaysian Chinese gain ground at the expense of Malays.
'We do not tolerate such hostilities against non-Muslims,' said Keadilan deputy Syed Husin Ali. 'We will act against the leaders who disrupted the forum.'
