MALAYSIA Islamists provocatively parade in Terengganu with (fake) swords and spears

The parade was organized yesterday by the youth movement of the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), a party defeated in the November elections. After the demonstration, the Islamic Development Minister called on Muslims not to engage in divisive activities. Muslims make up 63.5% of the population and ethnic Malays make up 51%.

Kuala Lumpur () – Unrest and controversy are multiplying today in Malaysia after members of the youth movement of the Islamist and pro-Malaysian party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) marched yesterday in Setiu Terengganu, in the peninsular state of Terengganu , dressed in green tunics of medieval warrior inspiration carrying shields, spears and (fake) swords. A vehicle crowned with a huge sword also paraded in the procession.

A demonstration of adherence to militant Islam (the color green identifies the PAS, but also the Islamic religion in general) within a two-day event attended by the party’s leader, Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, known for his provocative speeches towards other confessions and ethnic groups, also recently accused of being the cause of corruption in the country.

The PAS (which lost the November elections) has always emphasized the supremacy of Muslim Malays over the other ethnic and religious components of Malaysia, despite the fact that Malays make up 51% of the population and Muslims 63%. 5% of the total. Malays enjoy full constitutional rights, while non-Malays, and even more so non-Muslims, experience some form of discrimination.

However, there is still a pervasive sense of belonging, and the concept of social harmony often takes center stage on election platforms, including that of current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who won the election backed by the reformist Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of the hope).

Following yesterday’s demonstration, Islamic Development Minister Mohd Na’im Mokhtar released a damning statement calling on Muslims not to engage in actions that could foster division and misunderstanding in the community.

But Islamism not only seeks to play the ethnic and religious card in its favor, but also to foster its relationship with foreign groups: in the case of the PAS, the ties with the Muslim Brotherhood are close and historical.

It does not appear that the Setiu Terengganu demonstration was able to elicit a consensus in public opinion. On the contrary, on social networks there are those who accused the PAS of a provocative attitude by evoking negative events from the past, and those who criticized it for spreading an ambiguous message, perhaps in favor of the establishment of Isis in Asia, without wanting to express it openly.