Caning Kartika! What's Next?
In August 2009, the Kuantan Syariah High Court sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor to a RM5,000 fine and six whippings after she pleaded guilty to consuming an alcoholic drink in public last year. In September 2009, the Kuantan Syariah High Court Appeals Panel upheld Kartika's punishment.
Although, there have been many opinions about the case, the non-Muslim community has been generally silent on the issue. One reason may be ignorance. After all, how many non-Muslims are familiar with Islamic jurisprudence or the Syariah enactments? Notwithstanding our unfamiliarity with Islamic matters, can we afford to be ignorant and remain silent?
The Muslim authorities may wish for non-Muslims to keep out as the issue pertains to Islamic matters. Some even think that this is a divine sanction and should not be questioned. Should Christians think likewise?
For one, aren't we all Malaysians irrespective of our creed and race? If so, whatever befalls another Malaysian should be of equal concern to us Christians as we are all citizens of Malaysia and part of the destiny and fortunes of our nation.
When a crime is committed and where judgment and decision undertaken are within the public sphere, all such judgment, punishment and decision should be subject to public scrutiny and appropriate legal reasoning. Sri Lankan scholar Vinoth Ramachandra points out, "Christians should not respond by demanding a state makes no controversial moral judgments but rather by demanding a state is more transparent in its judgments, precisely so that they may be subjected to wide-ranging public scrutiny and debate".
In the case of Kartika and her sentence, the question is whether the punishment to be meted out is just. The Kuantan Syariah Court Appeal panel thinks so. On what basis was this decision arrived at as no reasons or grounds were given? As Zainah Anwar of Sisters in Islam pointed out in her article "Growing List of Don'ts", Kartika was a first-time offender and showed remorse for the wrong she committed. There was also no violence involved in committing the offence. Under such circumstances, normal guidelines would prescribe she receives an automatic one-third remission of the sentence.1 Yet, as we know it, these considerations have not been highlighted or appear to have been taken into account in arriving at the pronouncement that her sentence is deemed just.
The fact that Kartika has now boldly made her stand on the matter - that she prefers to go ahead with the punishment - does not detract from the legitimate concerns from wider society and of Malaysian citizens as a whole as to the crime and the sort of punishment. And this is a question all Christians must ask and take cognizance of. Otherwise, we may be on our way to a form of 'religious tyranny' where religion or religious clerics or even the State have the final say.
We therefore call on Christians to exercise their prophetic witness - to cherish and uphold justice and transparency by calling for a review of the judgment and sentencing and to ensure that any decision regarding the case is made manifest subject to the Rule of Law and Equity as well as established legal reasoning and jurisprudence. Only then will our beloved nation thrive and prosper as a truly democratic and yet pluralistic-multi-cultural community of people under the blessings of God.
May God bless Malaysia!
Eugene Yapp, NECF Malaysia Executive Secretary (Research)
9 October 2009
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/4/focus/4831679&sec=focus. Accessed on 7 October 2009 |
