Wong Choon Mei
LUMPUR, Jan 27: Pakatan Rakyat and civil society leaders have condemned the throwing of pig heads into two mosques as acts of reverse-psychology intended to drive the wedge deeper between the Muslims and the Christians in the country by irresponsible and power-crazed politicians.



“This is clearly reverse-psychology propaganda by ruthless politicians who think they can still divide, control and confuse the people with such disgusting and outdated methods,” PAS strategist Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told Harakahdaily.

‘These are deliberate acts of provocation and not the isolated cases of mischief that the police and the Home Ministry have pretended they were,” Tian Chua, PKR strategic director, told Harakahdaily.

“Going forward, Pakatan expects more houses of worship to be attacked. The aim is simple – to create as much fear and tension in society as possible so that they can justify and prolong their narrow and parochial interests,” Tian added.

The pig heads, wrapped in plastic, were discovered in the compounds of the Masjid Taman Datuk Harun and Masjid Taman Seri Sentosa, both of which are situated along Jalan Kelang Lama in Petaling Jaya and about three kilometres apart. The mosques are also within the Kampung Medan area, which in 2001 was hit by an ethnic clash that reportedly left six people dead.

Thirty pieces of RM1 notes were also found in the compound of the Masjid Taman Datuk Harun. The discovery was made by devotees when they came to attend morning prayers at 5.30 am.

"I call on all Malaysians to be calm and not to be tricked by such dirty political tactics used by irresponsible quarters. I also urge the police to take immediate action and bring the culprits and their masterminds to justice,” Ean Yong Hian Wah, head of Selangor DAP, said in an email to Harakahdaily.

The Umno link

Since a Dec 31, 2009 court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the word Allah, extremist groups have carried out mass demonstrations, attacked 11 churches, two suraus, a 100-year old Sikh temple and a Catholic school.

The attacks have been linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Umno party, which has been widely accused of trying to rally Malay support by playing up the issue.

An NGO that is believed to be backed by Umno has also been raising racial tensions in the past weeks with fiery rhetoric that Malays – which form 60 percent of the population – were now being “disrespected” by the other races.

“It is strange that the police have not hauled in those who have been running down the other races with their incendiary rhetoric. This is clearly an abuse of the freedom of speech,” Ramon Navaratnam, past president of Transparency International, told Harakahdaily.

“The trend is now getting out of control. Desperation and extremism is up and the authorities do not seem to have any answers and this is not a good sign for the country.”

Gullible

PAS, the country’s largest Islamist-based party, has condemned Umno for taking the stand that Allah was for Muslims only.

According to PAS’s core governing body of ulamaks or religious experts, the Quran clearly allows Allah to be used by all.

“There is not just one but many verses in the Holy Book that says Allah is the Ruler of the universe and not just the Muslims. This is indisputable fact. That such a non-issue has been blown up into such a dangerous racial and religious crisis is clearly intentional and the blame must be put squarely on PM Najib and his Umno party," Dr Dzulkefly said.

“When the churches were attacked, Muslim extremists and Umno were blamed. So now, they are going after the mosques, so that the Christians and Pakatan can be blamed. But are Malaysians so gullible anymore. Even in the rural areas, they would think twice about Umno and Najib now.”

Leaving pig heads at Muslim places of worships have happened before in Malaysia. It is considered an ultimate insult as the animal is taboo to Muslims and eating pork and pig by-products are banned. A year ago, a pig's head, sliced into two, was found on top of a PAS flag on the floor of the Universiti Malaya surau.