Stop the moral police… for good
Elizabeth Wong : 13th Floor
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If you had chanced upon last Sunday’s headline news in a leading English tabloid (”Crude, Rude and Abusive”), you would have been forgiven had you speculated that another set of photographs of Iraqis abused in Abu Ghraib had been released, or that ‘BDSM-meets-American Idol’ was the latest trend in our fair land.
There were elements of force, domination, humiliation, voyeurism, exhibitionism, forced confinement, a variation of golden showers, dirty talk reserved for the women, and ‘blowing’ (into a breathalyzer) for men.
No one wants to be prudish here. If consenting adults want to play games in the privacy of their bedrooms, by all means, go ahead.
But the tabloid was not offering our daily dose of sensational sleaze.
Instead it highlighted an incident two weeks ago that began at one of the more popular Kuala Lumpur clubs and ended up in the corridors of the Federal Territory Department of Religious Affairs (Jawi) with Muslims Malaysian being tortured.
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The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture in the beginning of Article 1:-
“For the purposes of this Convention, torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.(…)”
Detained women suffer
Based on what had happened to the group of mainly young Muslims in the early hours of Jan 20, there is little doubt that what they had experienced at the hands of Jawi is covered by this standard and universal definition.
It didn’t surprise us that the women (photo) who were detained faced the brunt of what happened. They were prevented from using the toilet until one of them was forced to ease herself in their presence. It was reported that they were coerced into parading in front of a panel of Jawi ‘judges’ who spent the night making abusive comments about their clothing, breasts and genitals. They were reportedly held for the longest time; some up to 10 hours.
One assumes that Jawi officers are the last people to stoop to perpetrating such indignities. After all, they claim to be protectors and canvassers of the Muslim faith, and that they have the highest moral standards compared to the rest of us.
The Malaysian government has protested noisily over what happened to Iraqi prisoners held in Coalition camps. However, the line between what the Coalition forces did to the detainees of Abu Ghraib and what Jawi did in its headquarters is thin. Save the latter displayed a pathological taste for degrading women, the essence remains the same: – torture is torture – whichever way you may view it.
It did not end when the detainees were finally allowed to leave the Jawi premises. Some among the hundred-plus Muslims detained on Jan 13 will most likely be charged in the Federal Territory Syariah Court.
According to the tabloid, if they are found guilty, they may be fined up to RM1,000.
To rub salt to the wound, everyone, even those who passed the breathalyzer test, will have to return to attend compulsory religious lectures by the very same agency that had tortured the group earlier.
Performance anxieties
And the irony of it all is that - those issued with charge sheets had this written on them: “perbuatan tidak sopan” (indecent or ill-mannered behaviour).
I am not sure if this case supports Freud’s ‘arrested development’ theory, but one can’t help but wonder if years of holier-than-thou proscribing have taken a toll on those claiming to be our moral police.
Perhaps it all has something to do with a build-up frustrations and childhood trauma; perhaps there are performance anxieties in the picture or conflict with self.
Or is it more likely just a big fat power trip one gets into, once garbed in uniforms, robes or big sticks?
Such incidents as the above have been occurring with increasing frequency, with or without our knowledge. On rare occasions some of those who are affected and abused have taken action and filed complaints.
A couple of years ago, one such high profile case involved Rela members who were party to a Jawi raid, who took great pains to photograph a woman who was denied the use of a toilet and therefore forced to ease herself in a Jawi van (this is sounding too familiar…).
The concern here stems beyond a small group of people deciding on what is suitable attire for Muslim women or appropriate behaviour for Muslims.
It is more than just Jawi officials and their hunting party misbehaving or abusing their power (because it’ll never happen again….Not.).
Wheels set in motion
The very existence of such laws alone constitutes a violation of our fundamental liberties, and touches on our privacy – not only of those of us who profess to be Muslims, but each and every one of us.
It suggests that there is a constituency in Malaysia that warrants policing and daily surveillance – because some have decided this particular constituency does not possess the ability to think for itself. Sooner or later, this bubble will expand to cover all of us, and by that time, it will be too late.
Already, certain wheels have been set in motion. Melaka may soon have its own homegrown variation of Front Pembela Islam (FPI or the Islam Defenders Front ) - except under a different name.
Malacca Chief Minister and Umno vice-president Mohd Ali Rustam was reported a few days ago as giving his blessings to his state’s 4B Youth Movement to begin their spy-snitch initiative on youths involved in alleged ‘immoral activities’.
If you had thought, “Oh, they’ll just spy on Muslim youths,” think again. They plan to be all encompassing and multicultural in this instance.
No one should take kindly to snoops leering and peering. In fact, I was advised back when I was still in school never to grant mercy (and especially if I have a big stick) to peeping toms. Malaccans – take note.
It is easy to imagine a life without the moral police of Jawi, Jais, 4B-Melaka etc. The moral fabric will not crumble in their absence – look at how well adjusted and decent a good number, perhaps even the majority of people are in other countries. They can and have to be stopped and dismantled in their tracks.
Relocate human resources
There are too many life-threatening situations that we, the citizens, need saving from – and it’s certainly not from those of us who choose to dance in clubs clad in tank tops or couples romancing in a park.
All we need is some creative, rational thinking and reallocation of human resources. Didn’t the Health Ministry issue an alert that dengue fever is reaching epidemic proportions? Go kill those potentially fatal aedes mosquitoes!
Isn’t public safety the primary concern of Malaysians and isn’t the police force looking for new recruits to beef up the squad? Go catch the snatch thieves!
Aren’t the victims of December’s tsunami still in dire need of help in cleaning and rebuilding their homes? Go to Penang and Kedah!
Isn’t the ACA buckling under the weight of thousands of reports filed? Go volunteer there and investigate something of national importance!
We may not have signed the UN Convention against Torture, but it doesn’t mean Jawi should be allowed to continue with impunity. It is precisely at this juncture, that the Attorney-General’s office ought to show its mettle by quashing the charges against the detained club patrons, and arresting these abusers.
