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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Sunday 30 August 2009

The Cow Head and the herd mentality.






The cow head incident.

This incident is the most talked about presently. A group of people, after performing Friday prayers, marched to the government secretariat building with a severed cow head. The object of their volatile outpouring is the relocation of a Hindu temple from section 19 to section 23. The cow head is severed. It was bloody. Protesters held it by the horns and carried the grisly object from the mosque to the secretariat building. Along the way, they shouted God is Great. Inflammatory speeches were made by the ring leaders of the cow head march. One Ibrahim Ismail gave a very incendiary speech. The sun was high. It was very hot. Some people kicked the cow head. It was shown on YouTube.

Section 23 is a part within the sprawling suburb of Shah Alam. The majority of people staying in section 23 as in Shah Alam are Malays. They are also Muslims. They are God Fearing people and good Muslims. If the protesters are residents of section 23, they have shown themselves as 'better' Muslims that their brethren in section 19. They are teaching the section 19 residents how to be good Muslims.

The temple in section 19 is very close to people's residence. You can open the doors of your house, and the Hindu temple is in front of your doorsteps. Yet the people of section 19 have shown uncharacteristic restraint and exemplary patience. Has that got anything to do with the fact, that the government in power during the time when people of sec 19 were being very patient and tolerant was the BN government? Now that the present government is no longer BN, all maters must be resolved instantly otherwise the government can be overthrown?

See the context? Section 19 temple= during BN rule. Section 23 temple= PR rule. So the cow head protest is not only aimed at creating a climate of fear for Hindu worshipers but also as reason perhaps to dispose of the PR government unconstitutionally. Indeed the ringleader of the cow head demonstrators said, the severed cow head wasn't meant to insult the Hindus religion. It was meant to show that leaders of the PR government in Selangor are stupid like cows. Ah ha- the object of his desire is to kick out the legitimately elected government! This cow head demo is therefore just cannon to the political fodder.

Ala Tuan, I think Malaysians have had enough of despatching of governments through contrived unconstitutional means. You take over and form governments through constitutional elections. As a direct threat to the sovereignty and supremacy of the law in Malaysia, this threat must be met directly in no uncertain terms. The police must enforce the law without any further delay. Arrest all those culprits and bring them to deal with the law. This action will only serve to increase the credibility deficit of the BN government especially that of UMNO's.

The severed cow head is symbolic of what? To the Hindus a cow is a sacred animal. Can we infer from the severed cow head, that this dismembered anatomy of a cow, is meant to send ominous signals to the Indian/Hindu community?

If that is so, there is only one option which the PM has. Instruct the police to arrest all those involved and placed them under ISA. All right thinking Malaysians cannot condone and tolerate such blatant racist superciliousness. I am shocked beyond disbelief that the OCPD of Shah Alam said; the situation was too volatile for them to interfere. If I am being wicked, can I take it to mean the police were scared?

Let us be clear yes- this is a relocation not building a new one. Even if it involves the building of a new one, if the request is reasonable, we can't unreasonably withhold our approval. I am sure the PR government of Selangor operates on a similar basis. Unless of course the temple at section 19 was built on illegal land or a TOL land of which permanent title has been refused. No permanent building can be built on TOL land anyway. Since the temple there which was built on titled land, is to be demolished, it is fair that a new location for building replacement be given. Hence an area in section 23. The trustees of the temple and Hindus can refuse relocation if they want and bring the matter to court. I think we must recognise and appreciate this giving spirit.

Isn't the relocation of the temple, the core request asked and hoped for by the majority of Malay Muslims there? I understand in section 19, the location of the Hindu kovil is vey near people's residences such that you can literally open your doors and you immediately face the kovil.

I urge all Muslims to examine the new location. I understand it is on industrial land quite a distance from houses. This distance should accord more comfort than if the temple is unmoved from section 19. I think this is a fair deal. Those in section 19 who don't feel comfortable about being so near a temple should find relief that now the temple will be moved to section 23 and a bit farther from houses.

Therefore if we were to approach this issue with a sense of level headedness, then the cow head incident should not have taken place at all.

That it has taken place, suggests that it is the work of saboteurs and provocateurs out to make political capital of simmering racial uneasiness and create social havoc. If PAS members were involved, the party should take action against them. If PKR members were involved, they will have to face the music too.

26 comments:

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 10:56  

Najib ordered the police to take action quickly. He did right and if he keep on making quick, firm and drastic decisions like this, he would be looked upon differently by both his enemies and supporters.

He cannot hesitate and ponders on
volatile events. He needs to act
swiftly. Hang the political consequenses!

If he can maintain the momentum, bet you, in 12 months time, people would see him as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Now he is only seen as the President of UMNO.

Avalion

Suci Dalam Debu 30 August 2009 at 11:37  

Sir,

You wrote "...If PAS members were involved, the party should take action against them. If PKR members were involved, they will have to face the music too."

Please allow me to add, if UMNO members were involves, the party should ask the police to leave them alone.

In fact the police knows full well to leave them alone.

I view this as a political event masked as a religious protest and UMNO goons will go to all lengths to get back on the gravy train.

Unfortunately they have offended my hindus and at the same time put the muslim-malay in a not so favourable light.

Greenbug 30 August 2009 at 11:59  

The PM telephoned the IGP to take swift action. It has been 48 hours, where is the action? Is the PM losing his grip?

p.s. why do you think its PKR or PAS. Why did you rule out UMNO. Tulang Besi in his blog pointed out Noh Omar as the dalang!

sunwayopal 30 August 2009 at 12:01  

Yes, bring to book if PAS and UMNO members were involved.

But like u said, one incident is more than enough, yes way more than enough, to really tell me who is involved.

Its where the PDRM just stand idly by and did nothing at all. Nothing.

This alone confirms for me which political party is involved in this matter.

110%, no need to say everybody knows.

zorro 30 August 2009 at 12:03  

Datuk Sak, a measured and well-tempered thread. You place should be beside Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for a New Malaysia.

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 12:22  

PM shld assign idris jala to resolve this issue..n establish a joint consultatative commitee between Fed n State on any "sensitive issues"..we shld think when it's politics it can be different parties but for managing its 1Government.We hv seen too many ppl trying to get brownie pts i.e kg buah pala,pig abbatoir,23 temple>>this are issues destroying 1Malaysia

Ariff Sabri 30 August 2009 at 12:23  

greenbug,

i said:
If PAS members were involved, the party should take action against them. If PKR members were involved, they will have to face the music too.

read as a whole, you and i know who are involved. i have alluded to this incident as being fodder to political canon to destabilize the present govt. you know who wants to right?

Ti Lian Ker 30 August 2009 at 13:14  

If you visited Hong Kong where more than 90% are Chinese Non-Muslims, there is a majestic mosque right in the middle of the town.
Maybe Malays must be taught the humility of religion instead of keagungan agama Islam...time for us to exercised more restraint on the glory of Islam in our textbooks...we are sending a wrong signal to nubile emotional minds...this people gives ISLAM A BAD NAME!

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 13:17  

Awaiting action from the police but no news so far.
If none, it is a clear indication of what kind of PM is running the nation.
It doesn't matter which political party they belong to, but Malaysians need to see action from the authority not excuses.dh9753.

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 14:52  

Its quite a concerted effort to destabilise the Selangor Govt..and they're mobilising all media incl mainstream>>
read STAR article bty JT.

PM have declared he wants Selangor..and thus he is in a way telling EVERYONE to do wateva is necessary i.e PDRM,SPRM.Judiciary etc etc...

These organisations are after all managed by mere mortals who if not extended; need good pensions,some businesses or board seats etc when they are retired.

And its sad that along the way the rakyat's interest is sacrificed/jeopardised.

It will be nice if PM reiterates that he ONLY wants to recapture Selangor only if its in a democratic manner.

Eyes Wide Open 30 August 2009 at 15:10  

dato

another level headed treatise.

only i cannot agree to the ISA being used. Do we have no laws against hate speech to charge the perpetrators with? Why hold them without having to perform the duty to prove that they deserve their punishment?

Fairplay,  30 August 2009 at 15:30  

Dato'
I salute you for your impartiality. NOBODY should try to destroy the fabric of our society, no matter from which political divide. A truly religious person can NEVER be a fanatic. In this instance,Hindus should be magnanimous and forgiving BUT the government is DUTY-BOUND to take appropriate action against the demonstrators and even more so against the INSTIGATORS. WE ARE ALL WAITING.

anak si-hamid 30 August 2009 at 16:32  

Whatever the poltical motivations behind this shameful tactic it boils down to a Malay 'sickness.'

Even neanderthals won't resort to such antics. All it does is to heap a lot shame on Malays and Muslims - in this holy month.

Heaven help us - but on the other hand why and what for???

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 17:04  

watch the part of the malaysiakini youtube ,when the guy was asked about the cow head,observe his reaction.guilty! he knows the meaning of the cow head...hence his statement on the people being extreme with their action which he blames the pr government for it.now,some umno malay bloggers have tried to spin this differently.

come on people! we are not born yesterday.you bring a cow head as a symbol for a demonstration against building a hindu temple and claim to say that" kepala lembu menunjukan kebodohan " that is just pure bullshit! i am sorry sir butlet's call a spade a spade shall we?

Lee Wee Tak 30 August 2009 at 17:35  

"the situation was too volatile for them to interfere. If I am being wicked, can I take it to mean the police were scared?"

- does this statement not equal to the PDRM admitting their "Jantaness" is only extended to arresting people who wear black shirt and holding candles?
- they dare to use excessive force on 1 August against tens of thousands motivated but peaceful marches yet kecut when faced with there are 5 loud mouths that hae not taken food after 1/2 da?

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 17:42  

Read your take on the "cow head" issue. I am a muslim. There are many mosques and suraus built in non-malay areas. The non-muslims are not protesting even though some suraus blast the azan at a very high decibles. They are more tolerant than many muslims who always think that they will go to heaven. Right in the middle of the almost 100% majority chinese in H.Kong there is a mosque. Go to Jerusalem and you will see mosques and churches situated next to each other. No problem. What would happen if it is the other way round i.e non-muslim protesting the building of a mosque in a 80% non-malay area by parading the head of a pig? Will the muslims not get insulted? I am sure the malay majority policemen will arrest these people and lock them up under ISA. We have to use the brain that God gave us. The cow head that the protesters brought actually reflects their brains. But no problem, they believe that if they commit sins then just keep on going to perform umrah or haj and they will be as clean as a newborn baby. Sigh...just plain hypocites.

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 18:02  

These few muslims that acted and insulted the hindus are not fit to be called Malaysian citizen.
Why did they use the cow hean if not meant to insult the hindus.
And the inaction of the police,the OCPD should be charged and replace with more capable officer.
As i read the incident from english portals, I was surprised to learn that the action of these extremists were under the full watch of about one section strength of the policemen.
The muslims must learn to live in harmony with the other faiths. Jangan jadi katak di bawah tempurung.
Please visit sarawak and see by yourself on how the mosques were built in the christians majority area, but this type of incident never happen here.

Thanks

NanaDJ 30 August 2009 at 18:40  

Dato',
You gave a fair and objective opinion as to the cow incident. i am deeply shocked and disturbed. Islam taught us to be fair and sensible. we are not supposed to insult other religion. I think the action are meant to be provocative, shame on UMNO and dalang behind it. If they want to 'rampas' Selangor do it fairly. Call for another election, stop resorting to this kind of tactic. So if they manage to create chaos and racial/religious disharmony, it is justifiable just so they could 'kick' out PKR/DAP controlled Selangor.
Apa dah jadi to semangat UMNO of yore? If they go on like this people who still love the original UMNO like will turn against the current UMNO for good.

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 18:47  

As I see it, there are no ways to sort this. The cruelty to animal is a 1st charge. Insighting Racial Tension is 2nd Charge. Sedition Act 3rd charge.
what is th epolice doing.

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 21:10  

the ringleader is a PKR member.

i bet that if police wanna take action against this pkr member, the pakatan fellows will tibai the police as 'unfair' and 'gestapo'.

ahhaha... dua dua pihak are acting like clowns..

hantukumkum

wecl72 30 August 2009 at 21:16  

These people were really jokers by saying the cow head was not meant to insult Hindus, so fast they twisted the statement, dared to do but dared not admit,their extremely stupid act could have sparked another "May 13". Don't these stupid idiots have Hindus & Chinese friends? They called themselves Malaysians? I think afghanistan is more suitable for them. The sad thing is that this is a very serious offence but yet, where is the ISA of bapak "1" Malaysia?

Anonymous,  30 August 2009 at 22:23  

At the rate we are churning out godspeed headlines of the wrong species for global entertaniment, we truly deserve a mention in 'that'
GUINNESS BOOK OF INFAMOUS WORLD RECORDS'

Are You Gonna Go My Way,  31 August 2009 at 01:02  

well, did the Selangor government contact the police and make a report that those people were disturbing the peace or they just " hey..wait a minute...we could take a ride on this and blame the UMNO people and the polis and Najib.."

The thing that most of you..non muslim do not understand is..when it comes to babi, kuil, gereja or whatever near muslim's home the muslim get together irespective of pas, umno, or pkr. Im not saying what they did was right..but the Selangor government knew about this..long time ago..but they never try to solve it..(tiada keihklasan untuk menyelesaikan) because they knew..they can always blame it on UMNO....

Anonymous,  31 August 2009 at 01:33  

Datuk Sak,

I wish all the UMNO/BN leaders can emulate 50% of your fairness and level-headedness.

When will they ever learn?

If they could learn from you, we will have a harmonious and properous Malaysia. We would have a government which focuses on nation-building and looks after the Rakyat's interest.

You are very right in proposing that the group of protestors be charged under the ISA. But, I doubt the BN/UMNO animal dare to lift a finger against them.

Datuk, please do something to save Malaysia.....most Rakyat feel that we are humans living in hell here.

Thanks.

Anonymous,  31 August 2009 at 05:00  

dt sak,,

i dont know why but i cried when people make so much noise about this demonstration.

issue here is when it comes to MALAYS RIGHT,, we are called racist,and so many other name.

kuil,babi,arak,judi are things untouchable issue to other races but to when they demand everything that is our birth right,, we are made to look acist,stupid,backward and whatnot..ever wonder why kandang babi never built in their community but near malay kampung also,, orang kampung tak buat bising pun..always being told to sabar

now they want to built their temple at our doorstep, is it wrong to protest.why can we protest,its our right too to voice our anger and frustration..other races protest at the slightest issue concerning their community, remember issue like azan (disturbing them they said,, mind you their dog bark at all times near our community),songkok issue,baju kurung,baju melayu.WHY CANT WE PROTEST.

Like the chinese newspaper branding utusan melayu so many names but what they said about us in their newspaper and blog are worst.we keep quite too.

you know, we malays have feeling too.jangan sampai kita orang melayu lupa diri dan pegangan sehingga kita kabur apa yang perlu kita lakukan

Engineer_Penang,  2 September 2009 at 17:53  

Orang Umno pijak kepala lembu dengan harapan supaya orang hindu nanti pijak pula al-Quran.

Itulah tujuan sebenarnya perbuatan barua-barua Umno memijak kepala lembu itu - supaya orang hindu nanti pijak al-Quran.

Puak Umno mana faham ajaran Islam yang melarang menghina sembahan agama lain (Rujuk Surah Al An'am: 108).

Bertaubatlah.

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