By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider
Frustrated at the overwhelming public judgments passed on Hudud, Pas president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang accused the media of playing up the issue for its own ends.
Hadi explained that Hudud are Islamic laws of the last resort. He said that to carry out Hudud was not easy as many conditions had to be fulfilled. He likened its enforcement to treating a sickness with surgery. “When a sickness cannot be treated with medicine anymore, then you operate,” he said. “Nobody says the doctor who operates is cruel, because they understand the operation saves lives.” The Pas hardliner pointed out that Hudud had been passed in the Kelantan and Terengganu states for many years but no one had been punished under its laws. Instead, thousands of non-Muslims had been flooding to join Pas, he claimed. Hadi was at a public square here today to launch Pas’s campaign to add new members and supporters. Hudud, which prescribes amputation, stoning and whipping as punishment for criminal offences, has been the subject of much public debate recently following Pas vice-president Husam Musa’s remarks that his party would introduce the strict Islamic law if it won federal power. Husam’s remarks sparked protests from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partner DAP as well as other non-Muslim groups. The Hudud debate has also put Pas on the defensive ahead of the Kuala Terengganu by-election, where non-Muslim votes are seen as key in a tight contest. It has also split a resurgent PR alliance as an embattled Barisan Nasional (BN) seeks to regain lost support in the by-election.
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