Political process remains to correct the religious mess

The verdict is out, and both sides can argue till the cows jump over the moon. The last remaining chance to fix this mess once and for all is the political process, as what Leonard Teoh, the lawyer who was holding a watching brief for the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS), has remarked. All legal avenues have been exhausted. The 2-to-1 judgement is far from resolving any of the mess created so far from Dr Mahathir's amendment of Article 121. In fact, it has served to further divide and ruin the social fabric of this country. As what PAS women's wing leader Dr Siti Maria Mahmud observed: "The damage is done. Ultimately, I don't think there was a victory for either side."

Since the mess was created by the executive in cahoots with a Parliament which was almost emptied of most opposition members (they were mostly incarcerated under the ISA that time...1987-1989), it is only right that the executive must have the political will to fix it lest it becomes the main reason for the eventual breakdown of Malaysian society as we know it.

In an attempt to cover one hole with the amendment to Article 121, the executive led by Dr Mahathir then has inevitably dug an even bigger hole. For all their cries about having no intention for it to create such mess (and I am inclined to believe they are right...click here on why I think so), the unintended consequnces are now clear for all to see. If the judiciary cannot be trusted upon now (bearing in mind this mess is a recent phenomenon, where the bench itself is observed by Zainur Zakaria to be currently divided along religious lines) to resolve the mess, it is imperative for the executive and Parliament to resolve what has become essentially a political matter once and for all. The continual damaging game between Umno and PAS to out-Islamize each other is one of the major reasons why a seemingly legal issue with no ambiguity when the Article was first amended has become a political one. And only a political process would have a chance of putting a stop to it.

What can you as a concerned citizen do about this unfortunate event? The least you could do now is to exercise your right to vote. Your choice in the ballot box in the coming General Election (very near) will determine if the executive will be kicked behind their back to sit up and repair the mess, or they will remain in their super huge majority comfort zone, and let the rot permeates throughout our society. Support NGOs and civil movement societies which will lobby the politicians on your behalf. As Lina is Catholic, perhaps it's worthwhile to get the Vatican to take an active interest in her dilemma as well. The Vatican has taken an active role in other similar cases in other countries before. Do one more fight before we all give up. That is all I can say for now.