Zaid: Malaysia no different from Taliban rule

KUALA LUMPUR - Beneath its veneer of modernity, Malaysia is no different from a country governed by Taliban radicals, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today in his latest tirade against the country’s religious authorities.

Triggered off by an editorial published in Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia today that lauded fast action by Islamic powers-that-be on alleged insults to Islam, the former Cabinet minister questioned whether the same indignation would have existed if it had been any other religion under attack.

"Don't be smug, Malaysia with skyscrapers and monorail, and wealthy trappings. Deep inside, no different from Taliban country," Zaid tweeted through his @zaidibrahim Twitter account today.

The Taliban is a fundamentalist Islamist movement that formed the Afghanistan government in 1996 before it was overthrown by the US-backed Northern Alliance in 2001.

Under Taliban rule, women had to wear a head-to-toe burqa in public and were barred from working or studying. Taliban gunmen also shot 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai - who is now considered a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize - in Pakistan last year for publicly opposing a ban on girls' education.

Zaid also said yesterday that the arrest of dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof over an Aidilfitri video featuring her dogs was a result of paranoia.

Maznah, popularly known as Chetz Yusof, is being investigated under the Sedition Act and Section 298A of the Penal Code that includes offences of causing disunity on religious grounds. The 38-year-old Muslim woman was released from remand in Johor yesterday on a court bond.

Weighing in on the ongoing action against Shi’ites in the country, Zaid also said that books he has read by Iranian scholars of the school are "far more profound" than what is taught here, which he pinned as the cause of the recent crackdown on followers of the school in Malaysia.

Last Thursday, Zaid posted a series of tweets lashing out against the authorities over what he perceived to be a trigger-happy reaction to issues concerning Muslims and Islam.

The former de facto law minister during the Abdullah administration said that Muslims doing anything outside the norm, like keeping dogs as pets or buying lottery tickets, are not tolerated.

“They are treated like criminals; remanded; become subject of speeches by top leaders. Muslims are protected species,” he tweeted.

The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said yesterday that the video made by Maznah three years ago was an insult to Islam.

In the 105-second video reposted on YouTube on Tuesday, Maznah is seen walking and bathing her three dogs as the “Takbir Raya”, or Muslim call to prayer traditionally reserved for the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, plays in the background.

The juxtaposition appeared to be a reference to the wudhu, or ablution performed by Muslims before prayer; dogs are also considered unclean by adherents of the predominant faith in Malaysia.

In another controversial incident, the religious authorities recently barred four Muslim girls from participating in the Miss Malaysia World 2013 beauty pageant.

Before that, two bloggers were charged under the Sedition Act, the Film Censorship Act and the Penal Code after posting a mock “Buka Puasa” (fast-breaking) greeting that featured a pork dish; pork is “haram” (forbidden) to Muslims.