Kuala Lumpur: radio satire triggers sectarian tensions between Muslims and Hindus

Hostile and derogatory comments inflame the climate in the country during the holy month of Ramadan (and during Lent). For the police, these are events that threaten ‘national security, economic stability and racial harmony’. The characteristic rituals of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam and the Kavadi Attam dance are in the crosshairs.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - Confessional attacks obscure the sacredness of Ramadan and Lent in Malaysia, with hostile and denigrating comments towards the faithful that have surprised - and struck - the religious sensibilities of the nation's inhabitants. The controversy was triggered by some viral videos on the internet that mock the Kavadi Attam dance: it is a ritual that symbolises a sacrificial - and purifying - ceremony practised by devotees during the worship of Murugan, the Hindu god of war, and a central part of the Thaipusam festival. Three Muslim disc jockeys from the radio station ERA FM are said to have carried out the act. In the video, two of them shout ‘vel vel’, while the third one commits indecent acts mocking the Hindu ritual.

During Thaipusam, Hindus pierce themselves with small replicas of the sacred spear known as a ‘vel’, which the Hindu deity Murugan used to defeat the demon Soorapadman. The faithful consider it a sacred object, because it was given to him by his mother, the goddess Parvathy. Hence the anger for the mockery of the ceremonial rite, which took place a few days before the sacred month of Thai. The country's news portals condemned the behaviour of the three radio personalities and internet users who protested against the desecration, calling on the authorities to take immediate action.

In the end the three men apologised to the Hindu community of the Lord Murgan Temple in Kuala Lumpur. And the radio station was ordered to pay a fine of 250,000 RM (almost 52,000 euros), but no criminal charges were brought against the disc jockeys, even though the public clamoured for fines and prison sentences. The Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the central organisation of Hindu organisations in the country, accepted the apology and its president, T Ganesan, emphasised the need for media organisations and content creators to be more careful when dealing with religious and cultural issues.

However, at the level of the faithful, there have been much more critical and even ferocious reactions, so much so that there are cases of people who have insulted the Islamic religion and then retracted, apologising and admitting that they had been overcome by anger. Words that were not enough to avert further drift, with the Muslim preacher Zamri Vinoth - a protégé of the radical Muslim leader Zakir Naik, an Indian citizen residing in Malaysia and wanted in his country for money laundering - who insulted Hindus and their rituals on his social media page. ‘The devotees,’ he said, “are possessed and seem drunk on alcohol when they engage in the rituals.” His remarks have once again sparked resentment from the Malaysian Hindu community.

Appeals to the authorities to take action against the two preachers have so far fallen on deaf ears, although the judiciary has launched an investigation and is awaiting instructions from the Attorney General's Office (AGC). In this regard, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain stated that 894 complaints had been filed against Zamri Vinoth.

Commenting on issues related to race, religion and the royal institution (3Rs) this year, Razarudin noted that the police have so far received 31 complaints, 17 of which involve the monarchy, two relate to race issues and 12 concern religion. This figure shows that they are on the increase in the country and that the appeals of inter-religious groups and institutions asking for an end to debates on controversial subjects have been in vain, at least until now.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, warned citizens against acting insensitively on religious matters, adding that any action or speech that touches on the 3Rs will only undermine harmony. He then invited citizens to support the principles of the Rukun Negara, a social ideology similar to the Indonesian Pancasila, established in 1970 to forge unity among the nation's multiracial communities. Malay Muslims represent about 60% of the country's 35 million inhabitants. The rest is mostly Chinese and Indian, while the Dayak and Kadazan Christians dominate the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak respectively.