Once again, Malaysians are faced with politicians who are seeking to repress and undermine religious freedom of minorities in this country.

Firstly, we have the Barisan Nasional government who have ordered the Catholic Church to cease its Malay language edition of The Herald , the internal-circulation Catholic newspaper, until courts resolve a ban on the paper's use of the word ‘Allah’. The move was part of a series of restrictions put in place by the government when it renewed the paper's licence last week.

This order seems to assume the state has a monopoly on who is allowed to use the national language and the word ‘Allah’ completely ignoring the reality that a large proportion of Catholics in Malaysia, particularly in East Malaysia, are bumiputera who mainly speak Malay.

Is this move part of the so-called moderate, progressive Islam Hadhari that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been peddling to Malaysians and the international community? He has clearly forgotten BN’s 2008 manifesto of ‘guaranteeing the right to worship and encouraging inter-faith understanding among Malaysia’s multiethnic people.’

On the other hand in Selangor, a Pakatan Rakyat-controlled state, we are seeing attacks on the Ahmadiyya a minority religious community. It was stated that the Selangor Islamic Affairs, Malay Customs, Infrastructure and Basic Amenities Committee chairperson Dr Hasan Ali had vowed to ‘bury’ the movement.

The Ahmadiyya community are facing religious persecution in many countries because of their beliefs including Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and now we can include Malaysia on that list.

If I remember correctly, in April 2008, just a month after the general elections, all the Pakatan leaders signed a statement ‘reaffirming its solidarity for Malaysians’.

The statement goes on to say that ‘Pakatan Rakyat is determined to implement and bring changes in accordance with the principles of democracy, socioeconomic justice, equal economic opportunities and religious freedom.’

It seems that Pakatan leaders, especially PAS, have conveniently ignored their commitments to the rakyat , which includes the Ahmadiyya community, and have decided to label them ‘deviant’ and target this community.

Why hasn’t PKR or DAP come out to criticise these discriminatory actions which clear violate the fundamental Malaysian right to believe and to practice one’s own religion in an atmosphere free from fear, intimidation and persecution?

Politicians on both sides of the political fence seem to have a notion that religious diversity is somehow a threat to the political and social order. It has been demonstrated to us time and time again that this is a slippery slope that has led to discrimination and the persecution of minorities around the world.

It is crucial that we as Malaysians, committed to multiculturalism, work to promote diversity and to affirm the dignity and mutual respect of all citizens whatever their religious identity and speak out against these injustices.