A big deal was made out of Najib Razak’s presence at the recent Thaipusam at Batu Caves. This would be the prime minister’s third visit to the in the annual Hindu event in as many years. Harussani Zakaria initially expressed dismay over the matter, saying that Najib had “sacrificed his faith” for being involved in the Hindu ceremony. The Perak mufti had pointed out that Muslims were not allowed to take part in religious rituals conducted by other faiths. However, he made a U-turn after Najib personally spoke to Harussani about his role on the day and said that the Barisan Nasional chairman’s presence at the event was not unIslamic.

PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat is known to make visits to Buddhist temples and such acts, among others, have made him popular among the non-Malays/Muslims in Kelantan. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim too was involved in Hindu ceremonies, namely Thaipusam in Batu Caves some time ago and more recently several Ponggal Hindu rituals at Batu Gajah on Jan 29.

Meanwhile, Dr Asri Zainul Abidin has accused naysayers to Najib’s visit to Batu Caves of practicing double standards. The outspoken former Perlis mufti pointed out that the same critics didn’t say anything over a similar visit by Anwar in conjunction with Thaipusam. He claimed that while a picture he put up on Facebook of Najib’s Thaipusam visit to the Gombak temple complex had evoked hundreds of negative comments, a photo of the opposition leader celebrating the same Hindu festival in Ipoh was deemed fake.

“I received close to 1,000 comments claiming the prime minister’s presence went against the (Muslim) faith, plus all kinds of politically-motivated fatwas. However, when I uploaded a picture of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at a similar celebration in Ipoh, they said the photo must be examined as [Anwar’s image] might have been superimposed,” Utusan Malaysia quoted Asri as saying.

Asri said it’s obvious that such critics of Najib were using religion to further their own agenda. For this, he warned this group of Muslims that it was a “big sin” to exploit Islam to support their political biases as such activity would have a negative impact on Muslims and represented a threat to Islam.

“Najib was not involved in any religious ritual or event and so, the question of his faith should not arise. He followed the specified guidelines. He knows what he can and cannot do,” Sinar Harian quoted him as saying.

It’s not easy being a politician or a public figure when you are being watched and judged for every move you make. This is especially true in multicultural Malaysia where people are expected to be extra sensitive to other cultures and religions. But what can you say? It’s the life that they’ve chosen…

*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.