It’s absolute nonsense. A Muslim woman, Kartika Shukarno, is going to punished by being caned just because she drank beer at a nightclub. She is going to be the first woman to face caning under the Malaysian law. I find this outrageous for a few reasons. Briefly these are my reasons. Firstly, it should be our right to be able to consume whatever we want to. Secondly, if a person does not really show that he is following his religion closely, he should not be punished and instead should be allowed to change his religion if he wants to. However, Malaysia’s reason for punishes the woman might be that they do not want their religion, Islam, to be loosely followed so that it is not taken for granted. I will be elaborating on each of these points.
Firstly, about our rights, we should be able to consume whatever we wish to as it is our body and we should be allowed to eat or drink whatever we want to. So, the ‘crime’ is not even a serious one and the punishment, although there shouldn’t be one, is very harsh. Doesn’t this point out to injustice in Malaysia? Some Human Rights organizations are outraged by this. For example, Amnesty International, a human rights organization, found the punishment inhumane and appealed to the Malaysian Authorities to not cane the woman. However, the Malaysian Authorities brushed aside the appeal. Therefore, the Malaysian Authorities should seriously consider the appeal before taking any action.
Secondly, there are always other alternatives. Kartika doesn’t need to be caned just for going against Islamic laws and drinking beer. There is always the option that the government can find out why the person went against his religion and if he wants to convert to another religion. When it comes to matters on religion, you will find that Islamic Laws are the harshest. Anyways, if the person wants to convert his religion, then he should be allowed as it is part of our rights to be able to choose what we wish to believe in and what religious customs we wish to follow. In the end, if he still wants to remain a Muslim, then he should be allowed to drink as it is up to the individual as to what extent he wants to follow his religion. He doesn’t need to be caned at all and in my opinion, this rule is unfair and this is injustice.
The reason for Malaysia wanting to cane the woman might be that they do not want their religion, Islam, to be loosely followed so that it is not taken for granted. In the light of recent events, like 9/11, Islam and its morals and intentions have been questioned a lot. Therefore, the Malaysian Authorities would like to make an example out of Karthika by punishing her very harshly by caning her. However, this is injustice to Karthika as she is not being treated fairly. So, while this might be the Malaysian Authority’s motive, it is not a morally right one as someone is being unfairly treated.
In conclusion, the Malaysian Authorities should not punish Karthika as it should be her right to be able to consume whatever she wants, believe in whatever she wants and because there are always other alternatives than a very harsh punishment like caning. Caning her will be utter nonsense.
Labels: Beer, Caning, Islam