"We Will Burn You..."

Religious tolerance, let alone respect, seems to becoming more of a rare phenomenon of late. Here's another reminder of how, Christians in one part of the world are being terrorized from celebrating their most auspicious and festive season of the year.

How terrifying it must be to live in utter fear of one's life - and not have the basic freedom to observe one's religious rituals and season without the threat of being burned or even killed. It is a sad commentary indeed and one that may not be too foreign in our own neck of the woods. Surely many pockets of people belonging to a religious minority in Malaysia can relate to the condition of many Christians in Pakistan. Here too, we've seen the kind of religious bigotry take on an insidious character and has become more commonplace than we'd like to admit.

As a matter of fact, sometimes it feels as if the kind of religious bigotry we see against minorities comes with the government's blatant consent! Why of late, not only does there seem to be tacit consent given for open hostility toward minorities, the desecration of Hindu crematories shows that some religious minorities cannot seem to find peace even in death!

Let's hope our 1Malaysia idea does not go down the same path as the kind of unity and coexistence Pakistani politicians promise their minorities.

G. Krishnan