Anwar Ibrahim |
- The Salafist Equation
- Pakatan Declares Polls Reform Panel a Failure
- PTPTN: No Need For Students to Borrow if Umno-BN Stops Plundering From National Coffers
- Pendidikan Percuma Di Turki Walau Tiada Minyak
- Nurul Buoyed By Suu Kyi’s Triumph in Burma
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 05:01 PM PDT From Gulf News The strategic alliance with the literalists is critical for the West in order to keep the Middle East under control
As we observe political developments in both West and North Africa as well as in the Middle East, it is critical to take full account of the "Salafist equation", which may well prove to be one of the most significant religious and political challenges of the coming years. One year after the Arab awakening, Salafist organisations and political parties are playing an increasingly active role throughout the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. The Saudi and Qatari Salafist organisations are very active domestically and internationally. They support other Salafist groups around the world, in West Africa (Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, etc.), in North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) as well as across the Middle East and Asia (Egypt, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.) up to and including the European and American countries.
Their support is primarily ideological and financial, aimed at spreading a specific message of Islam with books, brochures, lectures and the building of mosques and institutions. All Salafist organisations share a highly literalist approach to the scriptural sources, generally focusing on the visible dimensions of the Islamic references (rules and jurisprudence or fiqh) in daily life: licit or illicit behaviour (halal and haram), dress codes, rituals, etc. The literalist Salafist approach is gaining ground in many countries (even in the West) and among young people as it promotes a simple black-and-white (halal-haram) understanding of Islam. Muslims, they argue, must isolate themselves from the corrupt surrounding societies, and avoid involvement in politics. This binary vision of the world (Muslims versus the others, the good versus the bad, protected religious purity versus corrupting political involvement) has over the years shaped a religious mindset based on isolation, defensiveness and sharp judgements (who is within Islam and who is a dangerous innovator, or even outside the faith).. The great majority of Salafists have gone no further and a very tiny minority (in closed and marginalised networks), with the same binary mindset, has transformed the defensive attitude into aggressive and sometimes violent political activity, styling themselves as jihadist Salafists (Al Salafistyya Al jihadiyya). There are clearly no ideological and organisational links between the literalist Salafists and the jihadist Salafists but the latter have carried into the activist political realm the same mindset found among the literalists with regard to questions of behaviour (adding to it the justification of violence towards non-Islamic and "corrupt" regimes).
But in recent years and months we have seen a change in Salafist literalist political involvement. Having for decades refused political participation — equating democracy with kufr (rejection of Islam) — they are now slowly engaging in politics. Afghanistan, in the nineties, was a crucial laboratory where the future Taliban (traditionalists who were first opposed to political participation) became the main force of resistance to Russian domination, supported by both the Saudi and the US governments. Now we see, especially in Egypt and Tunisia, the rise of active and quite efficient literalist Salafist organisations and political parties which are playing a substantial role in structuring debates and reshaping the political balance within the respective countries.
The United States as well as the European countries have no problem in dealing with the type of Islamism promoted by the literalist Salafism found in some Muslim countries: these regimes might oppose democracy and pluralism, but they do not hinder the western economic and geostrategic interests in the region and internationally. They even rely on western support to survive: this useful dependency is enough for the West to justify an objective alliance — with or without democracy. The US administration and other European countries are fully aware that Salafist organisations, based in Saudi Arabia, in Qatar or elsewhere in the Middle East, are pouring millions into 'liberated countries' and especially recently in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt (a RAND report has mentioned an impressive figure: $80 million (Dh294 million) invested before the elections for Egypt alone). Why, one wonders, do the western countries lend direct and indirect support to Islamist ideologies that are so obviously at odds with their own? After almost a century of active presence in the Middle East, and especially after the First World War, successive American administrations and their European counterparts have better understood how they can manage and take advantage of their relationships with both — the oil-rich states and the Salafist ideology they produce and propagate. The benefits are threefold: 1. These countries and their Salafist ideology are first and foremost concerned with political power and religious credibility. They focus — in a conservative and rigid way — on political appearances and social and juridical details; but from an economic standpoint they are liberals, capitalists who care little about the Islamic ethical reference within the neo-liberal world economic order. Indeed, they are pushing it even further. 2. Promoting the Salafist trends within Muslim majority societies helps both to create divisions from within these societies and to prevent the potential reformist trends and movements critical of western policies (reformist Islamists, leftists or even some traditional Sufi circles) from gaining immediate and natural religious credibility, and even a strong majority within their societies.. Instead of being confrontational (which, on the contrary, would unite the Muslims), the most efficient strategy for the West is to divide the Muslims on religious grounds: in other words to transform the natural diversity among Muslims into an effective and useful tool for division. 3. The Salafist resurgence is creating trouble and tension within the Sunni tradition and between Sunni and Shiite Muslims as well, as the latter are considered as deviant by the literalists. The Sunni-Shiite fracture in the Middle East is a critical factor in the region especially in light of western and Israeli threats against Iran and the ongoing repression in Syria. The divide is deep even with regard to the Palestinian resistance, which for years had been a unifying legitimate struggle among Muslims. Now division is the rule, within and without, as Salafist activism (which does not care so much about the Palestinian cause) deepens among the Sunnis as well as between Sunnis and the Shiites. This strategic alliance with the Salafist literalists, on both religious and political grounds, is critical for the West as it is the most efficient way to keep the Middle East under control. Protecting some oil-rich states as well as their religious ideology while dividing any potential unifying political forces (such as alliances between secular and reformist Islamists or a popular front against Israeli policy) necessitates undermining the Muslim majority countries from within. The countries of the new Middle East, as well as those of North and West Africa, are facing serious dangers. The religious factor is becoming a critical one and if the Muslims, the scholars, the religious and political leaders, are not working for more mutual respect, unity and accepted diversity, it is quite clear there will be no successful Arab or African spring. The Muslims and their internal mismanagement and weaknesses will be exploited to protect Israel on the one hand and to compete with China and India on the other. Muslim majority countries should seek to exist as independent societies that no longer serve cynical concealed objectives. Muslims must decide, lest they end up divided by the very religion that calls upon them to unite.
Tariq Ramadan is professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University and a visiting professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Qatar. He is the author of Islam and the Arab Awakening. |
| Pakatan Declares Polls Reform Panel a Failure Posted: 02 Apr 2012 03:25 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) representatives in the government-mooted parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms complained today the panel had failed to meet its objectives, despite six months of heated discussions and at least six public hearings. The members, Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), Hatta Ramli (PAS-Kuala Krai) and Anthony Loke (DAP-Rasah), told a press conference here that the bipartisan panel had fallen short of expectations as it had completely neglected to address "fundamental issues" surrounding concerns over the country's election system. Key among these, said Azmin (picture), was the call to clean up the current voter registry, which civil society groups and PR leaders have alleged are fraught with discrepancies. The trio said today they have filed a motion notice with the Dewan Rakyat Speaker's office under Standing Order 30(1) calling for amendments to be made to the PSC's final report. "This is so the Speaker can take note of our intention to amend the motion to be tabled on the PSC report, to attach a minority report to it," Azmin said. When asked for PR's next plan of action should its motion be rejected, Azmin declined to comment, expressing confidence that Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia would give fair consideration to the proposal. "Because this is an important motion… I am confident the Speaker will give a positive response. "So we can debate this motion before the PSC report is tabled," said Hatta. The PSC's 22-point report, which comprises its final recommendations for electoral reforms in Malaysia, was distributed to all members of the House today but it has been placed under strict embargo until 11.30am tomorrow when it is tabled for debate. The nine-member committee had sat for its final meeting last Wednesday but ended a five-hour discussion in disagreement when those across the political divide were forced to "agree to disagree" on several key issues. Bersih 2.0 recently warned of a possible "Bersih 3.0 rally" should the Najib administration fail to implement meaningful reforms to the country's electoral process. — file pic "We, on behalf of PR, were a part of the committee, we tried our level best to push for total reform in the electoral process. "Unfortunately, this committee has failed to look at the entire proposal by civil society and individuals in preparing the final report… yes, they addressed some issues but they are not among the fundamental issues," he said. Apart from the electoral roll discrepancies, disgruntled PSC sources had last week also railed against the panel's failure to address other key requests for reforms such as the scrapping of the postal voting system, ensuring free and fair access to the media and an extension of the election campaign period to up to 21 days. These requests were among those proposed to the government by election watchdog Bersih 2.0, which last year organised a mammoth rally on the capital's streets to demand free and fair polls. The PSC was mooted shortly after the chaotic rally, which saw over a thousand arrests and even one death, when the Najib administration earned widespread criticism in the foreign media for its allegedly high-handed approach when cracking down on the event. Bersih 2.0 recently warned of a possible "Bersih 3.0 rally" should the administration fail to implement meaningful reforms to the country's electoral process before the 13th general election is called. PR lawmakers have voiced their support for such an event. |
| PTPTN: No Need For Students to Borrow if Umno-BN Stops Plundering From National Coffers Posted: 01 Apr 2012 11:14 PM PDT It is a fundamental right for everyone who is charged in court to have a fair trial, and for a trial to be fair, both sides must have competent lawyers. But if the accused can't afford a competent lawyer, the state must provide one. Of course, those with money can engage good defense lawyers. But for those who can’t, they will just have to swallow the unfairness of the system. It is the same with education. Everyone in Malaysia has a right to education. Education is one of the necessities of life and nations which have developed have the best education systems are not surprisingly world leaders in almost every arena. As long as someone wants to get an education and is qualified to attend a certain course, then he or she must be given the right to pursue that knowledge. Is it fair if just because a person does not have the money, he or she is denied education while someone who is mediocre but has the money gets it? Therefore providing education to its people is a must for any self-respecting government. It must ensure the right priorities in its spending priorities so that enough funds are allocated for education. The quality of education is also of utmost importance and the subjects taught must be relevant and improved with the times. The UMNO-BN government has not been responsible Unfortunately the UMNO-BN government has not been up to the mark in its responsibility to provide education to the people. Education in Malaysia has always been lopsided, controversial, inconsistent and getting more expensive by the day. There have been many arguments and discussions on the Malaysian education system but until now, there is no real direction at all. “The bottom line is that education from the primary level to university level should be free,” Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said at a seminar over the weekend. “And when we talk about abolishing PTPTN, we are talking about free education for all especially the poor. Not about using Petronas money to repay the exiting PTPTN loans.” Indeed, the most nagging problem facing Malaysian graduates today is the PTPTN, an acronym for the National Higher Education Fund Corporation, which has just been granted an additional RM6 bil to be lent to students for 2012 and 2013. “As at Feb 29, a total of 1.9 million borrowers had received funding from PTPTN to a tune of RM43.6 billion,” Khaled Nordin, the minister of Higher Education, announced over the weekend. But PTPTN loans have not gone down well with the people. These are ‘imposed’ by the UMNO-BN government on those who wish to further their studies, with many citizens believing that education is the responsibility of the government and should be free. To offer the carrot of higher education by building so many new universities, but then only allowing Malaysians the opportunity to study in these places if they can afford it is unfair and ridiculous. Obviously, those who cannot afford will have to assume PTPTN loans and this leaves young graduates with a ton of debt the moment they begin their working lives. Hence the unhappiness and threat by youth and students leaders to stage a protest on April 14. The fact is, our graduates are now facing great uncertainties over their future. Getting a job is the first and main difficulty. How then to repay the PTPTN? Even those lucky enough to find employment have problems as they have to juggle their student loan installments with having a family, caring for parents, housing loans, car loans and other necessities of life. All these need money, where is the government when it is needed, where is the promised social safety net? Regret To be fair, when the scheme was first launched, it was welcomed by youths hungry for education. But after graduation, they learned the hard way that as long as their PTPTN loans were not settled, they were unable to enjoy peace of mind. In the end, most felt that their main purpose in joining the work force was just to repay the PTPTN loans. Malaysia students began to ask, does not the government have a responsibility to raise the skills and knowledge levels of its people. Why must students pay their way? After all, when foreign universities get permits to operate here, they pay fees and annual taxes to the government – should not these be re-distributed to Malaysian students? Is this not part of nation building? Is the UMNO-BN government making money from the uncompleted cycle and siphoning away the funds midway? Additionally, as Anwar has pointed even countries which are not blessed with natural resources such as Turkey have free education up to university level. Many of those who took the PTPTN now regret taking the loans. Firstly, they have to start paying back the PTPTN loans 6 months after graduation whether employed or not. If not they will be blacklisted and penalties will be imposed due to late payment. Of course, there are many who have balked at the unfairness of the conditions and refused to pay. Some are taking advantage of the situation and trying to avoid the responsibility for their loans. Some who can afford just refuse to pay because they prefer to spend their salary on other items. But by and large, the majority are genuine cases. UMNO-BN has tried to provide different repayment schemes to make it easier and more flexible for the graduates but because of the sinking economy – again another problem that UMNO-BN is responsible for – salary increments just do not match or occur frequently enough to compensate for the graduates increasing spending burden. Big rally on April 14 The tensions and frustration have culminated in students group Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) deciding to hold a rally on April 14 to demand the immediate abolition of the PTPTN loans, a scheme they believe to be a burden, a social like opium, to university undergraduates. Khaled, the higher education minister, was quick to respond by saying that if the PTPTN is abolished, Malaysia will go bankrupt. Yes, it is an odd logic. But to Khaled, if the government made education free, the private institutions will have to shut down as everyone would want to enter the public universities. He further pointed out that the government will have to build more universities, which it can't afford. Moreover, Malaysia will not be the centre of learning for this region as envisaged. “Our country's tax revenues were RM169 billion last year. Under this year's Budget, RM50.1 billion was allocated for the education sector, but only RM12.1 billion was designated for public universities. On the other hand, we see the total amount of loans approved by PTPTN was only RM6.1 billion, so in what sense can the government say they can't afford to scrap it?" said Khaled. Social groups immediately denounced and poked holes in his argument. Malaysia Reformist Student Club (Karisma) secretary-general Mohd Hafizuddin Abdul Mukti noted that even Sri Lanka and Mauritius have adopted a free education policy, alongside European countries such as Norway, Sweden and Scotland. "Malaysia, as a country with rich natural resources such as petroleum and timber, has no excuse in not granting free education,” said Hafizuddin. Real solutions needed, not ad-hoc patch-ups Other Umno-BN arguments include that with free education, the students will not perform and many will take advantage just to waste time and delay joining the work force. This is indeed a very negative take on a nation’s youth. If so, it only confirms the UMNO-BN has done a lousy job in developing its society that the youth can be such irresponsible loafers. Why can't Malaysian authorities take the middle path? Some suggestions include the government converting the PTPTN loans to scholarship if the students can achieve certain marks, say 3.0 CGPA. The PTPTN loans should also be interest-free and without any administrative charges as all the work done in administering the scheme should have already been budgeted for in the allocations to the Education and Finance ministries respectively. Other suggestions include, giving discounts if payments are on time and paid early. But by and large, these are only ad-hoc measures to stem the cauldron that has been simmering for decades from exploding. It is due not to the quality of the youth in the country but to the management and leadership skills of the UMNO-BN. Above all, it has to do with integrity and corruption. If Malaysia was transparently and cleanly governed, there is no reason why education up to university level cannot be free. In short, the UMNO-BN government which has mismanaged almost everything for the past 5 decades must resolve the issues; not just giving excuses and simplified justifications. And we can see with the latest additional RM6 bil additional allocation, UMNO-BN is starting to finally realize that the youth are much smarter than they have been given credit for. They won’t be fooled so easily. If Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government, they have promised to scrap PTPTN. Given the response so far, UMNO-BN will have to do much more to match the Pakatan in word and deed. For example, it doesn’t make sense to increase the allocation when the scheme is already so unpopular, is it? More genuine long-term structural reforms are certainly called for, not excuses and flimsy short-term patches. |
| Pendidikan Percuma Di Turki Walau Tiada Minyak Posted: 01 Apr 2012 10:58 PM PDT Jika Turki yang tiada sesen pun hasil minyak mampu memberi pendidikan percuma kepada rakyatnya, tiada sebab Malaysia yang mencatat untung RM90 bilion setahun dari sumber petroleum tidak berupaya melakukan kebajikan sama. Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, berkata Recep Tayyib Erdogan memberi pendidikan percuma kepada rakyat dari peringkat rendah hingga universiti walaupun baru tiga penggal memerintah Turki. "Bila kita sebut mansuh PTPTN, isu utama yang harus difokus ialah pendidikan percuma untuk semua rakyat terutama golongan miskin. Bukan isu nak pindahkan wang Petronas bayar PTPTN. "Prinsip asasnya ialah pendidikan percuma dari peringkat rendah hingga ke universiti," katanya pada dialog bertajuk 'Pemberdayaan Kebajikan dan Ekonomi Rakyat' anjuran Pejabat Penasihat Ekonomi Selangor di Subang Jaya 31 Mac lalu. Beliau mengakui PTPTN adalah isu paling popular yang diaju kepadanya termasuk di facebook dan twitter. Walaupun PTPTN dimansuh, Anwar berkata, Pakatan Rakyat memberi jaminan tidak akan membuang kakitangan di perbadanan itu kerana mereka akan diserap ke Kementerian Pelajaran dan Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi. "Walaupun pegawai ramai, kita juga tetap pastikan khidmat atau mutu kerja mereka bertambah baik untuk rakyat," katanya. Mengenai pemberian 20 peratus royalti minyak kepada Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu dan Kelantan seperti yang termaktub dalam Buku Jingga, Anwar berkata ia tidak akan menjejaskan negeri lain. Ini kerana, katanya, 80 peratus hasil minyak itu mampu menampung perbelanjaan negara dengan memastikan royalti diurus mengikut pengurusan yang baik. "Keutamaan royalti 20 peratus difokus kepada golongan miskin. Apabila kita menyebut kemiskinan ia merangkumi sama ada Melayu, Dayak, Iban, Kadazan, Cina dan India. "Pada masa sama, kita memperketat prosedur kewangan selain pengurusannya dijalankan individu yang bertanggungjawab, amanah dan berintegriti," katanya |
| Nurul Buoyed By Suu Kyi’s Triumph in Burma Posted: 01 Apr 2012 10:55 PM PDT Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar took delight in the triumph of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in elections yesterday while recalling a favour done her by that country’s human rights campaigners 12 years ago. While stumping before a keen crowd of her constituents in the upscale Bangsar district last night, Nurul referenced Suu Kyi’s struggles to bring political reform to Burma. She did so in response to questions from the audience, who after listening to their parliamentarian on current affairs had asked the young mother of two how long it would take for Malaysia to make the transition to a full-fledged democracy. The 32-year-old Nurul’s reply: “We have to strive for as long as it takes.” Nurul referred to Suu Kyi’s decades-long struggle to bring political reform to her country, a travail-strewn path that saw this daughter of Burmese independence fighter, Aung San, spend long periods under house arrest. “We have to keep striving … it would help to have a sense of humour,” quipped Nurul, in the course of describing the Sisyphean nature of the labour required in bringing political reform to Malaysia. This was where the results coming in late yesterday in Burma’s by-elections, especially reports of Suu Kyi’s success in winning a seat in parliament, provided Nurul with grist for her optimism about the future. Yesterday’s elections in Burma signalled the isolated regime’s desire to begin the transition from military despotism to democracy. Gratitude to NGO Altsean Burma Nurul paid tribute to the generosity and fortitude of the democracy movement in Burma, one NGO of which, Altsean Burma, had advised her closely on how to present her case in hearings before the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva in 2000. That year Malaysian NGO Aliran was slotted to make their deposition in the annual sitting of the commission that hears human rights cases from all over the world. Aliran allowed Nurul, who at that time was travelling the world to highlight her jailed father’s plight as a political prisoner, to take their place instead, in making a seven-minute deposition before UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson. “The only Malaysian NGO recognised by the UN Human Rights Commission at that time was Aliran. Such recognition was a pre-condition for the submission of a deposition,” said Nurul. However, Altsean Burma whose representative Debbie Stothard, a Malaysian based in Bangkok, sympathised with the then-teenaged Nurul’s peripatetic exertions on behalf of her incarcerated father, Anwar Ibrahim. Stothard steered Nurul through the rigours of preparation of her deposition before a panel headed by Robinson. Later, recalling details of her deposition before the UN body 12 years ago, Nurul told Malaysiakini that democracy’s decades-old efflorescence in Asean was unstoppable. |
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