Will the Kurup formula work?

DURING his speech in Parliament last Monday, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup suggested to the government to reopen and review the non-prosecution of Ibrahim Ali for sedition.

For a cabinet minister this is an unusual course to take – in a forum normally meant for ordinary Members of Parliament to air their views. As the Minister in charge of the National Unity Department, one would assume that the subject of non-prosecution of Datuk Ibrahim Ali for alleged sedition would have been thoroughly thrashed out within the four corners of the cabinet room before the matter was brought to the august house of Parliament. Did he get permission from the cabinet or even the Chief Whip to make this suggestion in Parliament? He might well have been given that green light. If so, that would be the government’s position vis-a-vis the Attorney General’s opinion or advice on the Ibrahim case.

Nothing seriously wrong with the direct appeal to the sentiments of the members and of the public gallery; certainly it is politically correct for the constituents at home, but it’s odd because the de facto minister in charge of law had earlier made the government’s stand loud and clear: no prosecution for Ibrahim for sedition for reasons already discredited by a number of personalities familiar with the provisions of the Sedition Act, 1948.

Anyway, there may be a reason for such an approach to a problem. What does it matter, as Deng Xiaoping said about a cat – what does it matter whether the cat is black or white as long as it can catch mice. Also, there are any number of ways to skin a cat.

Kurup might have brought this important issue of non-prosecution of Ibrahim Ali for deliberation by the cabinet earlier. If he did and his colleagues shot it down, then his tactic to speak to Parliament makes sense. If he disagrees with a cabinet decision, then he knows what to do. In a country like Britain, a member of the cabinet who disagrees with a decision of that cabinet must resign by virtue of the convention called collective responsibility. But Malaysians do not resign, you stupid.

The fact that the issue of non-prosecution of Ibrahim was brought by another cabinet minister implies that there is second thought on the matter. If that is the case, then we may expect the AG Chambers to have a second look at the IP unless the Attorney General sticks to his guns. What may be the outcome no one can exactly tell until the cat is out of the bag.

I think the government should review the case of Ibrahim for allegedly suggesting to the parents of the children of a school in Jelutong in Penang in January last year to burn copies of the Christian Bible in the national language which contains the Arabic word ‘Allah’. This review of the decision not to charge Ibrahim for sedition is not merely to satisfy calls from various groups to investigate him for the crime but also for Ibrahim to clear his name once and for all in a court of law.

We don’t really know the full details of this incident other than that it had taken place at a school in Jelutong in January last year. Copies of the Bible in Malay were allegedly distributed to people present among whom were Muslim students. When Ibrahim got wind of it, he suggested that the parents of these students burn the copies of the Bible that were allegedly given out to their children.

In the event, no Bible was given or if given was not accepted by any of the Muslim pupils. None of them was known to have brought a copy home, nor was there evidence that they had read it. However, now that the IP file has been closed and marked NFA (No Further Action), how are we to know if Ibrahim is not innocent?

As the Minister in charge of national unity, it is Kurup’s job to find a solution to this impasse. There will be no end to the issue. Hence his formula: prosecute Ibrahim Ali according to the existing law on sedition.

While his approach to the problem is sensible, and we all wish him luck as to the outcome of his suggestion, I have in the meantime a suggestion for the Christians: pray to God to forgive Ibrahim on the principle annunciated by Jesus Christ himself. Remember what He said on the cross on which He was crucified. He had cried, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Ibrahim may have made a mistake and may not likely repeat it in the near future after all this bashing, but for the Christians it is worthwhile for them to remember the saying, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

The Attorney General’s Chambers has had a fair share of criticism on how it handled the Ibrahim Ali case but this quarrel has been going on for quite some time without a solution in sight. There is a need for government, if it has not done so, to engage the Christian leaders including those in Sabah and Sarawak and together seek a solution to minimise the prevailing religious tension. For instance, before the Ibrahim Ali case was brought to Parliament, it should have been discussed with the leaders of the Christian groups. For all we know, the Christian leaders could have supplicated to God to forgive Ibrahim Ali.

That would have been the end of the matter – a civilised way of settling a problem among ‘people of the Book’. After all, one of the acts of Christian charity is forgiveness.

Please stop me when I encroach on theology. However, I prefer to accept punishment for heresy than one committed under the Sedition Act, 1948 – that oppressive colonial law. Get rid of it.

There is a lesson that we can learn from this incident at Jelutong. Distribute copies of the Bible to pupils who are Christians only under the supervision of a teacher. This is called respect for the feelings of the pupils who are Muslims or even Hindus or Buddhists. Similarly, for the Muslims to respect the feelings of the Christians. This place on earth belongs to every one of us all – those professing religious beliefs as well as those without. Now that the damage has been done by the threat of the Bible burning, my advice to Tok Brahim: don’t do it again lah.

Afterthought – when I was a teacher, a good 50 years ago, Bible Knowledge was included in the Cambridge examinations, and a whole lot of Muslim boys and girls took the subject. Not ONE of them has lost his or her faith as a result – the only result was a pass in the Senior Cambridge!

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