The caning of three Malaysian Muslim women for extramarital affairs is stirring an uproar in the Southeast Asian country, with some view it as a bid to court voters.
“There's been more and more debate over the past five years over whether this country is becoming more Islamized,” Azmi Sharom, from the law faculty of Universiti Malaya, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Thursday, February 18.
“So they could be showing their strength just to make a point.”
The government said Wednesday that three women were caned for having extramarital relationships.
Each woman received four to six lashes at a prison near Kuala Lumpur on February 9, the first such move in the country.
* Shari`ah and Punishments
* Be Gentle, Even in Punishment
“The Malaysian government needs to abolish this cruel and degrading punishment, no matter what the offense,” Donna Guest, Amnesty International deputy Asia-Pacific director, said in a statement.
Rights groups lashed out at the government secrecy on the penalty.
“To do this surreptitiously implies that the government wanted to hide this degrading and unjust treatment from public scrutiny,” said Hamidah Marican, executive director of Sisters in Islam.
“This case constitutes further discrimination against Muslim women in Malaysia.”
Muslim Malays form about 60 percent of the 26-million population of multiracial Malaysia.
The multi-ethnic country applies Islamic Shari`ah law only to its Muslim population, while civil laws apply to non-Muslims.
Courting Voters
Defending the caning, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the penalty was meant to purify the women from their sin.
“The punishment is to teach and give a chance to those who have fallen off the path to return and build a better life in future,” he said.
He stressed that the penalty was implemented “softly” that left the women with no physical injuries.
“It was carried out perfectly,” he said.
“Even though the caning did not injure them (the women), they said it caused pain within them.”
Some, however, view the caning as an effort by the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party to win voters by showing off its Islamic credentials.
“This reflects the delicate balancing act that the Government in Kuala Lumpur has to perform," Bradley Allan, director of the Hong Kong-based security company Allan & Associates, told the Times, Thursday, February 18.
“On the one hand there is its international reputation as a moderate Muslim state, a multiethnic community living in harmony, and, at the same time, balancing the more conservative Islamic elements who would like to see Malaysia move closer to more conservative Islamic values.”
The analyst insists on giving the penalty a “nationalist” face rather than a religious one.
“This is as much a Malay nationalist issue as it is religious,” he said.
“Malays are asserting their dominance. They are letting people know they are in charge.”
“There's been more and more debate over the past five years over whether this country is becoming more Islamized,” Azmi Sharom, from the law faculty of Universiti Malaya, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Thursday, February 18.
“So they could be showing their strength just to make a point.”
The government said Wednesday that three women were caned for having extramarital relationships.
Each woman received four to six lashes at a prison near Kuala Lumpur on February 9, the first such move in the country.
* Shari`ah and Punishments
* Be Gentle, Even in Punishment
“The Malaysian government needs to abolish this cruel and degrading punishment, no matter what the offense,” Donna Guest, Amnesty International deputy Asia-Pacific director, said in a statement.
Rights groups lashed out at the government secrecy on the penalty.
“To do this surreptitiously implies that the government wanted to hide this degrading and unjust treatment from public scrutiny,” said Hamidah Marican, executive director of Sisters in Islam.
“This case constitutes further discrimination against Muslim women in Malaysia.”
Muslim Malays form about 60 percent of the 26-million population of multiracial Malaysia.
The multi-ethnic country applies Islamic Shari`ah law only to its Muslim population, while civil laws apply to non-Muslims.
Courting Voters
Defending the caning, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the penalty was meant to purify the women from their sin.
“The punishment is to teach and give a chance to those who have fallen off the path to return and build a better life in future,” he said.
He stressed that the penalty was implemented “softly” that left the women with no physical injuries.
“It was carried out perfectly,” he said.
“Even though the caning did not injure them (the women), they said it caused pain within them.”
Some, however, view the caning as an effort by the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party to win voters by showing off its Islamic credentials.
“This reflects the delicate balancing act that the Government in Kuala Lumpur has to perform," Bradley Allan, director of the Hong Kong-based security company Allan & Associates, told the Times, Thursday, February 18.
“On the one hand there is its international reputation as a moderate Muslim state, a multiethnic community living in harmony, and, at the same time, balancing the more conservative Islamic elements who would like to see Malaysia move closer to more conservative Islamic values.”
The analyst insists on giving the penalty a “nationalist” face rather than a religious one.
“This is as much a Malay nationalist issue as it is religious,” he said.
“Malays are asserting their dominance. They are letting people know they are in charge.”
