KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar says it is highly irresponsible for former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to attempt to recklessly stir a hornet's nest when touching on the issue of multiracialism in the country.
Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn said it served no other purpose than to incite racial sentiments among the populace and that such statements were divisive, ultimately bred bigotry and prejudice, and were utterly unacceptable.
She said it was not the first time Dr Mahathir had done so and it was unfortunately common for politicians to stir up racial and religious rhetoric for political and self-serving reasons.
"The former PM unjustifiably referred to the rule of law in order to support his vitriolic statement. The former PM's statement makes a mockery of the cherished principle of the rule of law.
"Rule of law" means a set of principles and ideals for ensuring an orderly and just society. As such, this phrase should not be used wantonly, and more so, with the ill intention of misleading the public.
"When the phrase 'rule of law' is deliberately misused and linked to the Federal Constitution without basis for political agenda, it is a travesty and a complete disservice to the Federal Constitution and to our country.
"Constitutional values and aspirations of the country need to be internalised for the greater good of all, not by selective and misleading interpretation of our Federal Constitution for political reasons and self-interest," she said in a statement.
She added that Islam was declared as the religion of the nation, and there was no restriction under the supreme law of our land for others to profess and practise their respective faiths.
"The fabric of the country's Federal Constitution is based on multiracial aspiration. There is no such thing as 'others' or 'outsiders' in our Federal Constitution.
"The fanning of hateful sentiments by our former PM incites hostility towards groups unreasonably deemed as 'outsiders' or 'others', of which there is absolutely no basis."
Cheah added it was timely for the Malaysian Bar to reiterate its call for the enactment of the National Harmony Bills to promote unity, integration and interfaith harmony in the country.
"In order to achieve the balance of upholding freedom of speech while maintaining public security, the Malaysian Bar has proposed for three bills to replace the Sedition Act 1948 — namely the Racial and Religious Hate Crimes Bill, the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, and the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill," she said.
She explained that the Racial and Religious Hate Crimes Bill was to promote and preserve national harmony by making it a criminal offence to incite racial and religious hatred.
The National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill seeks to capture the rights entrenched in Article 8 of the Federal Constitution — that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law and prevent unfair discrimination of persons based on race, religion, gender and other distinguishing characteristics.
"Finally, we have also proposed the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill which is tasked, among others, to promote awareness, educate and make recommendations to the government for the purpose of national unity."