NOVEMBER 25 — The government is prepared to give the green light to PAS president Hadi Awang to table his private bill in the Parliament.

Umno and PAS leaders have urged the non-Muslim community in the country not to get excessively worried about this bill, as it will only involve Muslims.

Perhaps, if we just look at the bill per se, non-Muslims may not even need to be overly sensitive over it — as those people have claimed — but once the issue is placed within the realistic frame of Malaysia, the crisis could be just lurking around the corner and we absolutely have good reasons to be worried. No one can guarantee us that hudud law will not be implemented in this country someday.

Lest we forget, this is a country with a steep religious inclination. Although Malaysia is a multiracial country, our diversity is often denied the due respect and has to give in over and again to the political religionisation agenda.

In the meantime, PAS has never concealed its intention to implement the hudud law in this country, posing a severe threat to our secularism. The religious measures introduced by the party in the state of Kelantan have already affected the day-to-day lives of local non-Muslims.

We cannot afford to grow indifferent to Hadi Awang’s private bill given such political reality and under the constant pressure from the religious quarters.

PAS leaders have reiterated that the bill is not about hudud law, which is indeed the case in strict terms.

What Hadi is going to table is actually the amendments to the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 aimed at further expanding the jurisdiction of Shariah courts.

Sure enough we understand that this is not going to be a bill on hudud law, and even if it is adopted, that does not mean hudud is here to stay. However, the bill is a foundation stone paving the way for the implementation of hudud law in the future.

We cannot deny that the bill will help PAS lay a more solid foundation, and put the party in a more favourable position to eventually push ahead its hudud agenda.

At the same time, it will also serve to embolden religious fundamentalists to see the possibility of implementing hudud law and establishing an Islamic state, giving them more ammunition to pursue their wild aspiration.

In the near term, even if Hadi’s private bill were to be passed in the Parliament, it is not going to have any major impact on the non-Muslim community. Nevertheless, it has been repeatedly proven in history that colossal changes never happened overnight but through a series of factors mutually interacting over a long period of time to bring about the change when the timing became right.

We must not take our secular system for granted. It requires our nurture and protection.

At the onslaught of Hadi’s private bill, lawmakers on both sides of the political divide must see past the confines of religion and race to make the best decision for all. — Sin Chew Daily

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.