“Anyone who says he knows God's intention is showing a lot of very human ego.”

- Michael Crichton

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s rejoinder to non-Muslim politicians “not to act like Ahok in Jakarta", is just more evidence that this religious cult masquerading as a political party, like Umno, is using a weaponised Islam to threaten, intimidate and harass non-Muslims in this country. It is further evidence that a weakened prime minister has no choice but to play political chicken with this cult that means to turn Malaysia into another failed Islamic state.

Hadi does not tell us exactly what Ahok had done but the implication being he (Ahok) either insulted Islam or interfered in Islam resulting in outrage and retaliation by pious Muslims against interlopers of their sacred text.

I however think it is extremely important to understand what Ahok did that has resulted in a veiled threat by a Muslim Malaysian politician. As reported in the Jakarta Post, Ahok, repeated “a verse from the Quran that is used by some Muslim groups to oppose his election as governor. The governor said he meant to criticise the use of religion in politics, but some Muslims took his words as an insult to their holy book.”

You read that right. Ahok cavalierly mocked a verse from the Quran that some Muslims had used to attack him on the campaign trail. Therefore, it is not as if he mocked the Quran randomly or out of context, he was critical of a verse that some Muslims used to justify their bigotry towards his candidacy.

Apropos everything, the Jakarta Post reported recently “that Jakarta police named Buni Yani a suspect on Wednesday evening for allegedly uploading edited footage that defamed non-active Jakarta Governor Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama - as the incumbent gubernatorial candidate's comments in the video were purportedly blasphemous - and caused nationwide uproar, particularly through mass demonstrations.

“‘We have found sufficient evidence to build a case and name him a suspect,’ Jakarta police spokesperson Sr Comr Awi Setiyono said. Awi said Buni's video post had ignited hatred and animosity among the public.”

In other words, this manufactured controversy was ignited by the machinations of religious zealots in an effort to cause instability by using religion as a means to incite hatred and animosity. If this is not applicable to the numerous religious provocations in this country, I do not know what is.

What exactly is this propaganda meant to achieve? Solidarity amongst the Muslim polity...