HVK Archives: Hindu-Muslim Confrontations Raise Old Fears in Malaysia
Hindu-Muslim Confrontations Raise Old Fears in Malaysia - Indian Express
Chen May Yee
()
April 16, 1998
Title: Hindu-Muslim Confrontations Raise Old Fears in Malaysia
Author: Chen May Yee
Publication: Indian Express
Date: April 16, 1998
When a tiny Hindu temple began ringing its bells three times a
day in January, they took a serious toll.
Muslims in a nearby mosque complained that the bells were too
loud, and in late March, antagonism had reached a point where
hundreds of Hindus and Muslims rioted in the normally peaceful
streets of Penang. Four people were injured, other Hindu temples
and Muslim mosques were attacked, and nearly 200 rioters were
arrested.
Although the riots were relatively isolated and quickly quelled,
the reaction to them vividly demonstrates the legacy of
Malaysia's terrible May 13, 1969, race riots even today. It also
shows the extent of the government's concern that discontent will
spread in these times of economic austerity - even in Penang, an
enclave of high-tech manufacturers and a state that looks to be
one of the most economically resilient in Malaysia.
Malaysia's damage-control mechanism went straight to work: The
police deployed 1,200 officers; newspapers emphasised
reconciliation rather than rioting, the deputy prime minister
rushed in to preside over a symbolic kiss-and-make-up photo, and
even factory bosses strove to reassure employees with high-
profile displays of religious harmony.
"Everybody had May 13 in mind," says Datuk K. Vijayanathan, an
ethnic Indian lawyer who is an adviser to the bell-ringing Hindu
temple. In the 1969 riots, Malays and Chinese clashed; that dark
period in Malaysian history gave birth to the the affirmative-
action policies for Malays that continue to shape society today.
"Everybody thought: 'What if it gets bigger?' "
It hasn't. Two weeks after the troubles, the state capital,
Georgetown, is its usual bustling self, and high-tech factories
nearby that are owned by such multinationals as Intel Corp. and
Hewlett-Packard Co. are humming along. Penang's chief minister,
Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, who is ethnic Chinese, attributes the
incident to "small groups of agitated youth and hooligans" rather
than a full-scale "community-to-community" dispute between the
local Indian Muslims and Indian Hindus.
"Nonetheless, "Tan Sri Koh acknowledges, "it shows that religion
and race can be an issue if we are not careful enough."
That would be one more piece of bad news Malaysia doesn't need.
Malaysia has long stressed a stable government and racial harmony
among its majority Malay and minority ethnic Chinese and Indian
citizens as big draws for foreign investors. With the regional
economic turmoil sharpening competition for investment, it has
become even more crucial.
People like Tan Sri Koh note that industrialisation and
urbanisation have mingled ethnicities and religions in a way that
has blunted differences. Growing wealth also means that people
have more at stake in maintaining peace.
But at the same time, some others warn, small factions of
religious fanatics have emerged in the past decade or so,
inspired by extremists in places like the Middle East and the
Indian subcontinent. "There have been more extremists in the last
10 to 15 years," asserts Shaik Allaudin Ismail, president of the
Muslim League of Penang. Moreover, officials warn that religious
or racial tensions, if allowed to fester, could more quickly take
root in an economic downturn.
News coverage reflects this concern. Local television and
newspapers confined their reports mainly to assurances by Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the police that the
trouble was over. No photographs or video footage of the rioting
made it into print or on air. The day after the riot, newspapers
ran a photograph of representatives from the mosque and temple
shaking hands, with a stern-faced Datuk Seri Anwar looking on.
The approach seems to have worked. Local businessmen say they
are unaffected. "We are totally unperturbed," says O.K. Lee,
chairman of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers' northern
branch, which comprises Penang, Kedah and Perlis states. Adds
another Penang businessman nervously: "Nobody wants to talk about
it."
Even so, some businesses say watched for signs of the dispute
creeping into their factories. Penang's economy grew at an
average annual rate of 11% in the 1990s, higher than the 8%
growth for the entire country. Malaysia expects overall growth to
slide to 2% to 3% this year, but Penang is expected to continue
to outperform. Indeed, both Intel and the Pen-Group of companies,
a unit of Japan's Toray Industries Inc. pledged big investments
recently.
One manager at a big U.S. multinational's plant, who is an ethnic
Indian Hindu, says he made a point of touring his plant with a
Malay Muslim colleague after the riot, to show a united front and
to calm employees. "With the current economic situation,
everybody wants to wait and see [when it comes to new
investment,]" he explains, adding, "It's a very, very competitive
world and we have to be very, very careful."
Both the police and the state government concede that in this
instance, they weren't careful enough. Growing tension in
Kampung Rawa, a suburb of Georgetown, was evident weeks ahead of
the riot.
In January, the longtime Raja Raja Mathuraiveeran Hindu shrine
was converted from a zinc-roofed shed to d small temple with
white columns and a domed roof. The trouble was that the newly
consecrated temple, built illegally on private land, was just 20
metres from the Kampung Rawa mosque.
Throughout March, worshippers at the mosque held demonstrations,
saying the chanting and bell-ringing from the temple were
interrupting their prayers. Worried local authorities duly found
an alternate site for the temple less than a kilometre away.
Hindu community leaders explained to the temple devotees that
they had struck a good bargain: Their small, illegally
constructed temple could now move to a larger piece of land they
could call their own.
On the night of March 26, an auspicious date according to Hindu
priests, the deities were moved to the new site. "We thought that
was the end of that," says Datuk Vijayanathan.
But by then, the dispute had acquired momentum of its own.
Inflammatory pamphlets were making the rounds in neighbouring
states, alleging that mosques and temples had been set ablaze or
demolished, and urging the faithful to travel to Penang to defend
their religions.
On March 27, a sea of worshippers gathered at the Kampung Rawa
mosque for Friday afternoon prayers. Police say there were 1,500
to 2,000 Muslims gathered at the 500-capacity mosque; other
eyewitnesses say it was as many as 5,000. They included not just
Indian Muslims, but also Malay Muslims who had come from as far
as Kedah and Perak states, say police.
After praying, several hundred Muslims surged out of the mosque
compound toward the new temple site, which was guarded by between
200 and 300 Hindus. Riot police found themselves outnumbered. In
the stone-throwing scuffle between Muslims and Hindus, police say
four people were injured. "Tear gas was going off like
firecrackers," a spectator recalls.
Over the next few days, sporadic incidents continued statewide,
with mosques, Hindu temples and even shops targeted. One Hindu
shrine in the heart of Georgetown was firebombed by youths on
motorbikes. The caretaker, a wiry old man named Krishnan, says he
cowered in his tiny room as flames licked the roof until he heard
the motorcycles zoom off, before bursting out to throw pails of
water at the fire.
Police say a total of 185 people were detained. Most were later
released on bail, but 25 rioters remain in police custody pending
investigation.
Authorities acknowledge they should have acted earlier.
"Fortunately, it was controlled within a short spell," say
Penang's chief police officer, Datuk Abdul Hamid Mustapha.
Police are usually vigilant when it comes to ethnic or religious
incidents; in every state, police officers note cases as small as
a schoolyard brawl between two students of different races.
"Always," says Datuk Abdul Hamid, "May 13 is at the back of the
mind."
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