God and Man in Kuala Lumpur
The prime minister is missing a chance to heal old wounds
ICC Note
Malaysian officials, who are mostly Muslims, have failed to address the primary root cause of the violence against Christians.
01/14/2010 Malaysia (The Wall Street Journal)-There’s a certain irony in the fact that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak traveled to Saudi Arabia , of all places, within 24 hours of his administration’s threat to use draconian measures to quell religious violence. His absence during a crisis is a mistake, as is his government’s approach to it so far.
The “Allah” scandal is the most serious domestic challenge the Najib government has yet faced in its nine months in office. Since a High Court ruling two weeks ago allowed Christians to use the word “Allah” in their Malay-language publications, radical Islamists have capitalized on the fraught climate to intimidate Malaysians and push their agenda. Yesterday saw the 11th in a spate of incidents, with Molotov cocktails, bricks and stones hurled against churches, a convent school, and even a Sikh temple. Lawyers representing Christian plaintiffs have found their offices ransacked. No perpetrators have yet been caught.
