"I will not deny the fact that you also have to grapple with some serious issues affecting minorities or religious sentiments. But our hope is that India continues to play its rightful role because I mentioned to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, that these were the years when Nehru and Zhou Enlai and Sukarno and Nyerere were there standing up for the Global South against colonialism and imperialism and to struggle to ensure that we recognise what humanity is about, what freedom is all about, and what dignity of men and women."

- Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

COMMENT | People who were triggered by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s comments while in India (the quote that opens this piece) have been sending me anecdotes and factoids when it comes to how India treats its minorities compared to Malaysia. I understand the sentiment.

I have no desire to defend India’s track record when it comes to this issue because honestly, India is not the issue.

The issue is that Malaysia, under Anwar’s leadership, seems to have no interest in grappling with serious issues affecting minorities and the religious sentiment of this country.

Indeed, beyond the rank hypocrisy of his statement, what we are dealing with is a...