Malaysia’s ‘armed’ Islamist parade deepens fears of growing conservatism

A march that featured military attire and ‘weapons’ has been likened to imagery used by the US-based Ku Klux Klan and India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Critics were appalled by the Islamist PAS party’s comparison of the parade with ‘Chinese opera’, as it defended itself against the optics of a militarised youth event

Reading Time:3 minutes

Youth members of the Islamist PAS party march in military-style outfits in Terengganu, Malaysia. Photo: Facebook/Faizal Rahman

Published: 7:54pm, 20 Feb 2023Updated: 7:58pm, 20 Feb 2023

Malaysia’s home minister urged calm on Monday after photos went viral of an Islamist youth parade which involved military attire, scimitars and spears, described by organisers as a harmless cultural event akin to “Chinese opera”, but pilloried by critics as a deliberate attempt to divide and intimidate non-Muslims.

Photos of the two-day event, held over the weekend by the youth wing of Islamist party PAS in its stronghold state of Terengganu on the east coast, have circulated across Malaysian social media.

While some people ridiculed Saturday’s parade of Ottoman-era outfits complete with conical helmets and shields in Malaysia’s tropical weather, others made parallels with the imagery used by right-wing movements such as the US-based Ku Klux Klan; the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville and India’s Hindu hardline Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“What are they trying to show and to whom? We are not at war,” said a Twitter user.

Alongside the PAS marchers was a large replica of ‘Zulfiqar’, the two-pronged sword of Prophet Muhammad, carried on the bed of a pickup truck.