[USF]

Malaysia is still an islamic state that continues to practice islamic gender and religious apartheid.

A turd is still a turd, no matter how much you try and polish it.

[Fred Nerks]

About the author: Clive S. Kessler is Emeritus Professor, School of Sociology & Anthropology at The University of New South Wales, Sydney. He has been researching and writing on Malaysian affairs, especially on Islam and Politics for more than 35 years. This article first appeared in Aliran Monthly, vol 25 no 9.

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http://www.primetimecrime.com/APNS/20031023Mahathir.htm

Alluding to reports that the US President George Bush had "promoted" Australia as Washington's "sheriff" in his part of the world, Dr Mahathir said: "Of course Australia has now been designated the sheriff, not the deputy sheriff, he (Australian Prime Minister John Howard) is now the sheriff."



"I can assure Australia that if he (Mr. Howard) acts as a sheriff in this country, he will be treated as a terrorist and dealt with as a terrorist. My foreign minister I think backs me on this." Dr Mahathir made his mark on the world by speaking out loudly against Western leaders.



While not popular in the West, his standing is high as a champion of Third World and Muslim causes. Political pundits say there is no indication that Dr Mahathir is going to surrender this pedestal after he retires.

..........

Clive S. Kessler, in his article maintains:

"During his long premiership Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad opposed the Islamists with conviction, and a stridency that often served their political objectives more than his..."

Really, Mr Kessler?

[Gritty]

Malaysian Islamist activists have long targeted religious modernists and progressives, seeking not so much to argue with or against them as to stigmatize them as un-Islamic, apostates, and renegades

Interesting article on just what we have been discussing on another thread...