Sweet words and the bitter truth

How can we trust a government that promises one thing and does the opposite even while the sweet words are still ringing in our ears?

Those who voted for BN on the strength of its manifesto must be trying to kick themselves in the butt now as they rebudget for highway tolls. They would be asking themselves: Where did such an established political organisation find the audacity to violate its own printed manifesto even before the ink is dry? What has happened to Janji Ditepati?

They should have known better. The BN government has a record of insincerity even in its international dealings. When it signed the OIC’s Islamabad Declaration in 2007 to foreswear discrimination among Muslims practicing different interpretations of Islam, it did so without cancelling the National Fatwa Council ruling that denies recognition to Syiah schools of jurisprudence.

The Islamabad Declaration, couched in solemn Islamic language, obliges signatories to “remove all causes of prejudice, hatred, provocation and incitement as well as sectarian violence between the followers of different Islamic schools of thought” and to “refrain from politicising any possible religious dispute between Muslims.”

And yet we have the BN government, spearheaded in this case by Home Minister Zahid Hamidi, making all kinds of inflammatory statements against Syiah Muslims and thereby going against both the letter and spirit of the agreement.

Indeed, both the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police have condemned Syiah followers as a national security threat—without offering any credible evidence.

One can only conclude that BN is creating an issue in the hope that it will become contentious enough to distract the public from noticing the utter falsehood of its election manifesto.

Zahid has even been quoted as saying that Malaysia’s uncompromising stand against Syiah Muslims has nothing to do with human rights. Really?

But then again, does anyone know what BN understands by the term “human rights”?

The BN definition of human rights apparently does not include economic, social, cultural and political rights and has nothing to do with torture, kidnapping and racial discrimination. Even though Malaysia has served in the UN Human Rights Council, the BN government has yet to ratify the world body’s Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and   Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Malaysian voters have no right to expect the fulfilment of election promises.

So stop trying to kick your self in the butt. Just frame the BN manifesto, hang it at a prominent place in your house and keep it there as a reminder until the 14th general election comes along.