“Those who use religion for their own benefit are detestable. We are against such a situation and will not allow it. Those who use religion in such a manner have fooled our people; it is against just such people that we have fought and will continue to fight.”
– Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

COMMENT | Recently there has been outrage by mainstream Malay political operatives, activists, journalists and religious bureaucrats about the role the media plays – often times Malaysiakini – in ratcheting up racial and religious issues.

Malaysiakini had to put out an editorial position on this issue, reassuring people that reporting the news is not the same as stoking racial and religious anxieties.

This has always been an uneven playing field. The major part of the problem is the race-based politics of this country.

The far right, which consists of political parties and their proxies, have been harping on this issue ever since the federal government fell to Pakatan Harapan, which includes the multiracial PKR and DAP.

Meanwhile, when it comes to Islamic provocations, the propaganda is that it is the non-Malays who are overreacting or taking advantage of the fact that the Malay community is split...