KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — The police’s prohibition against a course on Marxism here is behaviour characteristic of the communist ideology that they are attempting to block, said the  Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS).

Criticising the move to prevent the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) from conducting the course, IDEAS chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan said it was unacceptable to bar ideas or ideologies simply because authorities did not agree with or approve of them.

He pointed out that he personally disagreed with the Marxist ideology, which he said has only resulted in disaster where it has been implemented and would cause the same if it ever became policy here.

“But it is completely wrong to prevent legitimate discussion of this leftist ideology.  You do not fight an idea by using force.  Instead you defeat an idea by advocating for a better idea.”

“The police claims that the class must be cancelled because it is an attempt to promote communism.  This is ironic.  It is actually in communist countries that authorities prevent the teaching of ideas and beliefs that are not approved by the state,” he said in a statement today.

He urged Malaysians to rebuff the state’s attempts to control ideas and ideologies, citing German theologian Martin Niemoller iconic quote that illustrated the slippery slope that is the policing of thought.

Niemoller was an anti-Nazi priest best known for the following line: “When the Nazis came for the communists, I did not speak out as I was not a communist. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out as I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I did not speak out as I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar yesterday announced on Twitter that the police will not allow the Marxism course that PSM is planning for March 20.

Marxism is the socioeconomic theory based on the teachings of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but is often conflated with the Marxism-Leninism political philosophy that is often tied to communist regimes.

Malaysia continues to harbour an aversion towards communism owing to its bloody conflict with local communists during the Malayan Emergency and the Communist Insurgency.