Finally PAS Youth to "Join" Umno Youth to "Fight" for their religion! But wait... Who is the "Enemy?"

Finally PAS Youth to "Join" Umno Youth to "Fight" for their religion! But wait... Who is the "Enemy?"

17 Apr 2024



JK Joseph
Repentant ex-banker who believes in truth, compassion and some humour

PAS Youth leader Afnan Hamimi has revealed that there is a “cartel” out to provoke religious sensitivities in the country and has declared that Muslims were willing to die as martyrs to defend their religion from being insulted! Credit Image: Sinar Harian

With the prevailing “bad vibes” in the country over religion not expected to dissipate anytime soon, it looks like conspiracy theories have already started to emerge; this was after the latest incident where “prayer mats” with the image of Islam’s holy site Kaabah, mistakenly thought to be ordinary floor mats, were allegedly displayed at a supermarket in Johor!


Undoubtedly, this incident has further hurt the feelings of the Muslim community in the country following a string of other related controversies. Of course, it all started with the socks imprinted with the word “Allah” found in a popular convenience store in the Klang Valley over which Umno Youth had initiated a nationwide boycott campaign.


Meanwhile, as for the most recent case involving the prayer mats, it was reported that the oversight was due to a mix-up in product coding by the supplier.


If anything, this latest episode has further added fuel to the fire and ramped up the temperature in the country - no thanks to politicians jumping into the fray supposedly to defend their religion.


In fact, according to a recent news report last Monday (April 15) PAS Youth chief Afnan Hamimi had sensationally claimed the existence of a “cartel” which deliberately provoked the issue of religious and racial sensitivity in Malaysia.


Not mincing words, Afnan had posted on his Facebook that the matter was serious and that this cartel had to be “wiped out” immediately! He further asserted that matters of religion were not merchandise for market testing and that Muslims were willing to die to defend their religion. He also called on them to unite and fight the “insulters and haters of Islam!”


Meanwhile, Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal had pointed out that mistakes like this should never happen if the management and inventory staff are sensitive and aware of supermarket operations.


The Machang MP further expressed his hope that controversies touching on the sensitivities of Muslims in this country can be stopped and that all parties play an important role of not going beyond the limits when touching on matters related to the Islamic religion.


While earlier, PAS seemed somewhat lackadaisical in its response to the boycott calls by Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh against KK Mart, the latest incident involving the prayer mats saw the party apparently changing tack and agreeing to unite and defend their religion.


For the record, the supplier of the prayer mats was said to be a 100% Muslim-owned firm. As for AEON Big, the supermarket where the said mats were displayed, did the authorities interrogate those who were in charge of arranging and displaying the products? And, if there were Muslim workers involved in the tasks, was it ascertained why they failed to promptly highlight the discrepancies to their management?


Admittedly, the recent serious incidents touching on the sensitivities of Muslims in this multiracial country is a real cause for concern. Thus it’s imperative that the authorities double down on the “root cause” and verify whether it was the work of some rogue workers and also whether they could have been paid or “planted” to commit mischief?


Another serious question which the authorities (and everyone else) need to consider with an open mind and a clear conscience is: will any non-Muslim business owner in his right mind shoot himself on the foot by deliberately doing something that will hurt the sensitivities of Muslims? Wouldn't that be suicidal to his business?


At any rate, given the highly sensitive and enigmatic nature of the problem, maybe, the least the unity government could have done was to immediately instruct all registered businesses to do an audit of all their products and services to make sure there was no infringement on religious sensitivities.


Meanwhile, as for the so-called “cartel” highlighted by the PAS Youth chief which allegedly is out to belittle Islam, does it really exist or is it imaginary? If yes, what is its goal - to create racial and religious incitement among the people? But if that is the case, then surely it couldn't be anyone from the unity government, could it? After all, why would they want to destabilise their own government?


On the other hand, could the so-called cartel be trying to play up the recent religious controversies, milk it to the maximum and hope to destabilise the current government? Or maybe, there could be other “individuals” too, with their own nefarious goals?


To put things in perspective, the earlier Allah socks case was presumably down to oversight by the store staff, the shoe sole case was due to design issue, while the prayer mat mix-up was owing to coding error. Considering all that, what the public may be keen to know is: who exactly is the enemy or the cartel that Umno Youth and PAS Youth have vowed to fight?