The disclosure by the Prime Minister that the Government has no plans for establishing a Department of Non-Muslim Affairs as requested by Indian-based NGOs is a blow to fair minded and peace loving Malaysian of all faiths who have high hopes that the recent HINDRAF controversy will jolt the ruling party into decisive action aimed at mending the country’s frayed religious relations. With this negative response, the Government seems intent on continuing with the pretense that existing channels within the Barisan Nasional and the bureaucracy are sufficient to take up the religious grievances of non-Muslims. At most, the Government has indicated that it may set up a new committee or panel on non-Muslim issues.
What is clear – even if the HINDRAF rally had not taken place – is that present mechanisms for non-Muslim concerns and grievances are totally inadequate. The establishment of yet another administrative panel or committee will not lead to fairer implementation of religious freedoms pertaining to non-Muslims. Nor will it improve inter-religious dialogue and harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims. This is borne out by the recent experience with similar ad hoc bodies entrusted with improving national unity on other fronts. It is also unfortunately an analysis arising from the impotency of ad hoc bodies seeking to bring about racial or religious fair play within an increasingly Malay/Muslim dominant civil service establishment at federal and most state levels.
A Department of Non-Muslim Affairs – though not an ideal solution – can provide an impetus to inter-religious dialogue and harmony in a way that panels and committees, however “special??? they are, can never hope to achieve. By providing an institutional anchor and committing the government machinery and resources to the implementation of fair treatment towards adherents of non-Muslim faiths, the Department can be the first major step in bringing about a change in the current policy making and implementation culture and mindset – a change which is essential if the nation is to avoid similar HINDRAF type incidents.
Barisan Nasional federal and state representatives (including Ministers) should be well aware of the difference between the significance of and effectiveness of work undertaken by Government Departments that are a part of the civil service; and that of panels and committees set up on an ad hoc basis. I hope that all fair minded and concerned Members of Parliament and State Assembly representatives will stand up and lend their voices to persuading the Government to reconsider its position on the establishment of a Department of Non-Muslim Affairs.