Sure, we fight for freedom of speech. And that is one of the reasons why we oppose Umno and Barisan Nasional -- because we want freedom of speech. But freedom of speech means you are free to talk about what we like but should not talk about what we don’t like. And PAS talks about Islam, which is something we don’t like. Hence we are angry with PAS for talking about what we don’t like even if under freedom of speech they have a right to talk about whatever they want to talk about.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

JAIP nabs 13 couples for ‘khalwat’ in New Year’s Eve

(Bernama) - The Enforcement Division of the Pahang Islamic Religious Department (JAIP) caught 13 unmarried couples between 18 and 25 years old in a Syariah crime prevention operation after the 2013 New Year Eve celebrations.

JAIP chief enforcement officer Mohd Raffli Abd Malik said the couples were nabbed for committing khalwat at several budget hotels in town from 9pm Monday to 6.30am Tuesday.

"Most of the couples were between 18 and 25 and were picked up from budget hotels around town where they had checked in after the New Year celebrations.”

"They will be charged under the Islamic Religious Administration and Pahang Malay Customs 1982 Enactment," he told reporters after the operation.

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Last night/early this morning, 13 unmarried couples were arrested in the state of Pahang, a state under Barisan Nasional, the same government that is in power at federal level. These unmarried couples were arrested under Islamic laws, also known as Syariah laws.

Malaysia, however, is not an Islamic State. It is a Constitutional Monarchy with a Westminster system of government. In other words, Malaysia is almost similar to the UK and considering that our system is a legacy of the British Colonial Government that is not too surprising.

Pahang is not only under Barisan Nasional. It is also the state were a Muslim woman was arrested and convicted for drinking beer and was sentenced to a punishment of whipping. Furthermore, Pahang is where a PKR leader who is also an ustaz (religious scholar) was arrested for being alone in a hotel room with a married woman, not his wife obviously.

Looking at the track record of Pahang, it appears like Barisan Nasional is more Islamic than Pakatan Rakyat and is very serious about the implementation of the Islamic Syariah laws.

None of the other states have sentenced a woman who drinks beer to a punishment of whipping. None of the other states arrested unmarried couples celebrating New Year Eve in a hotel room last night or early this morning. Only the Barisan Nasional run state of Pahang did this.

Note that these unmarried couples were arrested under the Islamic Religious Administration and Pahang Malay Customs 1982 Enactment. Yes, it was under a 30-year old law that was passed back in 1982.

1982 was the year I did my first Haj. 1982 was also the year that Anwar Ibrahim left ABIM to join Umno so that, as he himself claimed, he can change Umno from the inside and make it more Islamic.

Also very important, 1982 was when the Sixth General Election was held and Barisan Nasional won 132 of the 155 Parliament seats (or 86% of the seats in Parliament) on 61% of the popular votes while DAP won only 9 seats and PAS won 5 seats (with 8 seats going to independent candidates).

And that was the law used to arrested these 13 unmarried couples in Pahang last night/early this morning, a law that was passed by the Barisan Nasional government in 1982 soon after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over as Prime Minister and Anwar Ibrahim left ABIM to join Umno so that he can make Umno more Islamic.

Many of us are very angry with PAS. We are very angry with PAS because they are trying to make Malaysia more Islamic. We are very angry with PAS because they are trying to remove Malaysia’s secular system (or partial secular system) and turn Malaysia into a fully-fledged Islamic State (from the partial Islamic system that we have now).

The weird thing is, while PAS talks about making Malaysia more Islamic (and which is the reason of our anger, because they talk about it) none of the PAS run states like Kedah or Kelantan arrested anyone last night or early this morning (and not because no one in Kedah and Kelantan were engaged in ‘illicit’ sex to usher in the new year, mind you).  It is a Barisan Nasional state like Pahang that arrested unmarried Muslims for checking into a hotel room.

What is of special interest to me is that this law that they used to arrest these unmarried couples is a 1982 law. And in 1982 Dr Mahathir had just become the Prime Minister and Anwar joined Umno to make it more Islamic. And in 1982 the Malaysian voters gave Barisan Nasional a resounding win in the Sixth General Election while the Islamic party, PAS, won only five seats.

I think PAS is a fake. They talk about Islam. However, in states under their control, such as in Kedah and Kelantan, no one was arrested for illicit sex. Those who were arrested were arrested in a Barisan Nasional state like Pahang. And what I find even weirder is that the Menteri Besar of Pahang in 1982 was current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

I wonder whether we should continue being angry with PAS. It looks like the culprits who ‘Islamised’ Malaysia were Dr Mahathir, Anwar and Najib. And these laws were enacted in 1982 when Dr Mahathir first became Prime Minister, Anwar left ABIM to join Umno, and Najib was the Menteri Besar of Pahang.

Maybe we should just let PAS keep talking about Islam. After all, it is the Barisan Nasional government and not the PAS government that appears to be overzealous about implementing Islam. It is those who do not talk about Islam who appear to be the dangerous ones.

In 1982, PAS was not in power in any of the states (not even in Kelantan). In fact, in 1982 PAS won only five Parliament seats. The people in power then were Dr Mahathir and Anwar at federal level and Najib in the State of Pahang. And the 13 unmarried couples arrested last night/early this morning were arrested under a 1982 law that was the product of Dr Mahathir, Anwar and Najib.

Well, did I not say that politics is all about perception? And reality and perception are two different animals. We are angry with PAS because they talk too much about Islam. But it is not PAS that arrested these people last night/early this morning.

Sure, we fight for freedom of speech. And that is one of the reasons why we oppose Umno and Barisan Nasional -- because we want freedom of speech. But freedom of speech means you are free to talk about what we like but should not talk about what we don’t like. And PAS talks about Islam, which is something we don’t like. Hence we are angry with PAS for talking about what we don’t like even if under freedom of speech they have a right to talk about whatever they want to talk about.

Or maybe PAS should stop talking about Islam. After all, last night/early this morning it was not the PAS run states but a Barisan Nasional run state that arrested 13 unmarried couples for celebrating New Year’s Eve in a hotel room. And this law that they used to arrest these people was a law that was enacted in 1982 when Dr Mahathir first became Prime Minister and Anwar left ABIM to join Umno and Najib was the Menteri Besar of Pahang.

Hence how can PAS claim credit for something that other people did back in 1982 when PAS was not running even a single state in Malaysia and won only five seats in Parliament?