Unity and collective responsibility

OCCASIONAL anxiety is a normal part of life. You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test or making an important decision. But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry and involves an outré sense of fear.
It is bad enough when a person shows symptoms of anxiety disorder, but now we have a segment of our population downed in panic attack that the presence of that single person can destroy the country.
If you ask me what one man can do to change a nation, quite a lot and standing as evidence is the resurrected prime minister who came like a knight to save the nation from doom.
Having said that, the celebrant who has been in the bad books of Malaysians seems to be creating pointless ripples and the new government has been put under duress to act against the "intruder" in our midst.
I have seen videos of Zakir Naik's speeches and preaching, and almost always we know this man does not like to be questioned. Clearly, he has little respect or regard for other religions other than his own. Undeniably though, he has a hypnotic effect on his audience when he speaks with such clarity and passion, and he mostly wins any argument by his knowledge of the religions around the world, or at least that is what it appears to be.
At the point when the quotes from holy books and scriptures are thrown about, everyone assumes them to be correct and he gets away. Learned people have found many of the quotes to be inaccurate or even fake.
As they say, when religion and politics ride in the same cart, a whirlwind follows. Nobody knows how or why Zakir Naik was accorded permanent resident status in Malaysia.
The saddest part of humanity is that we are obsessed with the idea of "us" and "them", which is really a no-win situation, especially in the context of religion.
The highly charged non-Muslims came out in full force demanding that the Indian office bearers of the new government step in to extradite this self-proclaimed scholar of inter-religion. My point is if the preacher is a threat to national unity, any action taken must be a collective responsibility, not that of a select few.
Zakir Naik was widely talked about in group chats and caricatures were being circulated giving the issue a slapstick racial twist, not realising that by doing so Zakir Naik was being sensationalised.
Our oldest and most revered statesman has said his piece on the matter, which means it should be allowed to rest in peace.
On another matter, which obviously irked me, is the repeated propagation that the Indian wakil rakyat should be championing the Indian issues as opposed to being there to serve the people at large barring all differences.
Again, are we not undervaluing the present government and its team of leaders on the path to a new Malaysia where we vowed to go beyond race, colour and creed?
The Indian office bearers of the new government should take the lead and be exemplary in their take on this matter.
Looking at every concern, issue and problem from a racial and religious issue will push us further into an incurable enigma, leaving us to rot in the rut of confusion and suspicion. The question (that often pops up) if religion unites or divides people, the toxicity of such thoughts spells nothing but damnation.
Is civilisation on the brink of collapse due to human frailties and false beliefs?
The question is too narrow but the answer is yes, clearly, as we are in a frenzy of self-destruction. Even in the context of a nation with just over 30 million people, humanity is devalued against higher morality in the context of race and religion. The world needs loads of luck.
The famous quote, "he who knows one, knows none" comes to my mind and is so relevant here as when we seek to learn more about the other, the differences pale in comparison against the ultimate.
Comment: letters@thesundaily.com