LETTER: The Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (MACSA) follows the recent incidents in France with great concern.
It is bad enough that the Government of France has allowed Charlie Hebdo to incite prejudices and hatred towards Islam as a religion and towards Muslim communities that profess this peaceful religion.
To further inflame the gravity of the situation, its President has blunderingly blamed Islam as "a religion in crisis all over the world" while defending Charlie Hebdo's caricatures that meekly veil hate-speech as freedom of expression.
While Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (UDHR) has proclaimed that freedom of speech is enjoyed by all but Article 1 itself stands to promote dignity and rights in the spirit of brotherhood. As such, any expression that undermines dignity and the spirit of brotherhood cannot be deemed as defended by human rights.
MACSA is also further concerned on the resulting increasing islamophobic development in France. MACSA is dismayed that the Government is considering criminalising the fight against Islamophobia.
France Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has recently proposed to ban the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), an association that tracks anti-Muslim hate crimes, in a move that more than 50 civil society groups and academics have warned against.
It is shocking that instead of curtailing hate speech, the government seeks to suppress anti hate speech advocates! This is clearly a setback to the Muslim communities there as the government seemed to be focusing on stigmatising and criminalising Muslim communities when they too, are victims of Islamophobia.
Apart from that, there were also fears that the government's vigorous and accelerated response to Samuel Paty's killing may subject Muslims to being collectively punished.
While MACSA wholeheartedly supports Malaysian Government's stance to strongly condemn Macron's statement, MACSA wishes to unequivocally state our condemnation of the beheading and killing of Paty and the carnage in Nice.
MACSA condemns any statement that incite violence or any act of violence in retaliation against Islamophobia. Both incidences in France are not representative of Islam and practices of Muslims worldwide.
While MACSA stands with the minority muslim community of France in their fight against a tirade of Islamophobic backlash, MACSA condemns any killing and violence in retaliation against the same.
LUKMAN SHERIFF ALIAS
Founder of Malaysian Lawyers Circle (MLC) and Chairperson, Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (MACSA)
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. RAFIDAH HANIM MOKHTAR
President of The International Women's Alliance for Family Institution and Quality Education (WAFIQ) and Co-Chairperson, Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (MACSA)