KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) today accused proponents of moderation to be agents of the West who will send Malaysia back to the “Dark Ages” with their demands for equality and cries of discrimination.
In an opinion piece penned in pidgin English, the group’s deputy president Aminuddin Yahaya also claimed that Malaysia was the only country in the world that allowed its constitution to be disputed by those he termed “dissenting, ungrateful citizens”.
These include groups such as rights coalition Comango and the members of the “IFC”.
Aminuddin did not specify what “IFC” stood for, but may possibly be referring to the Interfaith Commission that was never formed.
“They propagate that certain section of the community especially the non-Malay are being marginalise, discriminate, ignored and many other lies just create dissatisfaction among the rakyat,” he wrote.
“To my sadness there are ignorant Malay Muslim who were trapped in this un-Islamic, unconstitutional agenda of western proxies.”
He alleged that those professing to be moderates shared similar characteristics such as a rejection of the Federal Constitution, Islam as the religion of the federation, the special position of the Malays, the monarchy, “our hundred of years of history”, and Bahasa Malaysia.
The basis of his diatribe was not readily decipherable from the writing, but appears to be focused on one line gleaned from a local daily’s campaign to promote moderation that read: “A country free of religion and races ie no religion (including Islam) and no race can be superior of the others”.
Claiming that those participating in the campaign were rejects of their own communities, he then appeared to question their loyalty to the country with their espousal of moderation and liberalism.
“To these group, let me tell you this; if you reject our Constitution with all its provisions as a form of social contract among various races for more that 50 years, I wonder whether you are really Citizens Of Malaysia?” Aminuddin wrote.
“To me, if these group were to govern our country, instead of we become more develop and prosperous, we will be going back to the Dark Ages. May Allah forbid.”
Isma has emerged as one of the most outspoken groups in demanding what they assert to be Malay and Muslim rights, accusing other communities of usurping and undermining these.
It regularly accuses rights movements and those who do not subscribe to its views of being proxies and agents of an unnamed agenda to mislead Malays and Muslims.
Isma previously claimed that “Western-style democracy” was a ruse by developed countries to colonise Muslim nations through soft power, and alleged the United Nations was an invention of the Jews.
In May, Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman wrote that the ethnic Chinese were considered intruders into Malay land, and had been brought by British colonialists to oppress Malays.
He has since been charged with sedition for the remark.
