“Our objective is to get the message across to all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or political affliation,” he told FMT."We are now confronted with a new danger – ethnic characterisation. Introducing Interlok as compulsory reading material for SPM students will take these students back 100 years,” he added.He also said that Interlok, penned by national laureate Abdullah Hussain, would damage the respect between the different races in the country.
Last year, the novel was included in the secondary school syllabus for the Malay Literature subject as compulsory reading for Form Five students in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan.However, MIC, Gerakan and Pakatan Rakyat urged Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to ban the book because it contained disparaging racial remarks.In January, the Education Ministry agreed to withdraw the books from schools pending amendments but several quarters demanded a total ban.
'Novel insults all races'
According to Thasleem, Interlok contained insults against the Indians, Malays and Chinese."For example, the novel has words such as 'India Pariah', 'Melayu Malas', 'Cina Kuai', 'perempuan totok', 'babi' and 'syaitan putih'...,” he said.Apart from this, he said the book also contained unhealthy elements such as pre-marital cohabitation, infidelity, spirit worship, trading in humans and much more.
Citing Muhyiddin's statement that the novel was introduced to forge racial ties, Thasleem said that while the intention was noble, the wrong tool was being used for this purpose.“The novel would only create more suspicion among the races, reinforce stereotypes and distrust. The moral of the story is that the Malays are lazy, the Chinese are liars, who hate Malays and will do anything for money, while the Indians are of low-caste and an inferior race,” he added.
Thasleem also noted that the novel failed to meet the criteria set by the Textbook Department in the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka's Education Philosophy and Literature Department."Our research shows that the book failed to meet at least five guidelines," he said.
'Muslims must support ban'
Thasleem also urged Muslims to support the call for the book to be banned since its contents went against the teachings of Islam.“As a Muslim, I am saddened that Interlok has become a literature textbook,” he said, adding that the Quran clearly indicated that such things should not happen in Islamic countries with regard to building human capital.
Thasleem revealed that he wrote a letter to the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom and to the muftis of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan, to seek clarification if the novel went against Islamic teachings."Till today, none of them have replied which means they agree with my findings that the novel is against Islamic concepts," he added.
Elaborating on the CDs, Thasleem said the editing process was underway. The 12-minute CD would include speeches of politicians and NGO leaders on the matter."We are forced to print the CDs since the federal government has not listened to our grouses,” he said, adding that letters sent to the prime minister, deputy prime minister, director-general of the Education Department were ignored.
Thasleem also denied that the CDs would be used as campaign material for Pakatan Rakyat in the coming general election.
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/09/29/1-mil-anti-interlok-cds-to-be-printed/
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