KEPALA BATAS, Dec 10 — Federal Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today warned that Islam is being used to support racism in Malaysia.

The PKR de facto leader said the development was very disturbing given that Islam does not contain elements of racism or discrimination.

“The entire message of Islam is universality and justice, so how can you use Islam to defend injustice, racism and discrimination,” he said, at a mosque committee programme by the Penang Islamic Foundation here today.

Religion in Malaysia has increasingly become a mask for race-based politics, observers have noted, since communal politics began falling out of favour in the aftermath of Election 2008.

In its wake, the country has witnessed growing religious fundamentalism and authoritarianism that leaves little room for free thought and dissent.

The issue is further complicated by the ethno religious identity of the Malays, which is inexorably tied to Islam by dint of the constitutional wording that describes Malays as Muslims.

In recent times, controversies that arose due to being “offensive to Islam” is a recurring theme and this includes the furore over the “I Want To Touch A Dog” row and common celebrations such as Halloween and Oktoberfest.

Today, Anwar said Putrajaya may profess to practise moderate Islam, but yet is afraid to adopt many international conventions on human rights.

Malaysia also did not ratify many of the International Human Rights Treaties.

“I've asked in Parliament why Malaysia did not ratify these human rights conventions and they claimed they were concerned about some of the contents,” Anwar said.

He said Malaysia cannot claim to practise moderate Islam if it fails to promote human rights and respect human dignity.

Yesterday, UN resident coordinator in Malaysia, Michelle Gyles-McDonnough revealed at a forum that Malaysia only signed three of the nine core UN Human Rights Conventions.

Islamic authorities here are also on a warpath against liberalism and religious pluralism, deeming both to be major threats to the religion.