THE threats to the unity and peaceful coexistence are plenty, but hateful rhetoric and polarising narratives among politicians and the media aggravate the situation and increase tensions amongst the public.
The Holocaust and the massacres in Bosnia, Rwanda and Myanmar are examples of how political propaganda has escalated to blatant racism and xenophobia to the extent it has dehumanised the "other" deemed different whether culturally, racially, or religiously and so on.
Let's start with Rwanda. The complicated history made the country rife for subsequent turmoil.
The former Belgian colonial policies that favoured the Tutsis in political and economic roles had caused division and developed a deep resentment of the Hutu towards the Tutsis.
Radical Hutu politicians amplified longstanding tensions by spreading the fear of the "threat" posed by the Tutsis who usurp their land, jobs and opportunities.
Tutsis were dehumanised when labelled cockroaches. Incitement to violence was boldly played over the Rwandan radio stations and published in the newspapers leading to a bloodbath.
Almost one million lives perished in the span of 100 days. The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found the media played a substantial part in the massacre and found several journalists guilty of genocide.
Each time these incidences occur, the world says never again. Yet, today, we still see people deliberately inflaming public sentiments by using the politics of fear.
The current tensions in India are exacerbated by certain personalities through hateful rhetoric towards the Muslim minority, which includes blasphemous comments against the Prophet SAW.
They lead to anti-Muslim hatred and related hate crimes, including reports of incitement to violence against Muslims made by certain politicians and religious leaders.
In Malaysia, certain politicians have leveraged racial and religious tensions to garner support. What makes matters worse is that the narratives are sometimes echoed by the media.
Fortunately, Malaysia has not seen large-scale violence here as in other countries, such as the recent mass shooting in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York, which claimed 10 lives. But does that mean we are safe from such threats?
Malaysia has seen and continues to experience tension in our society. Let us not wait for violence to occur, as Adama Dieng (UN Special adviser on the Prevention of Genocide) said, "hate crimes are preceded by hate speech".
Once the seed of hatred is planted, society will reap what is sown. And in many instances, the result is detrimental to the unity of our society.
This is why the way in which the media represents a particular issue must be considered carefully, as unfair representations may lead to negative generalisations.
For example, the stereotype that Black people are violent and Latin Americans are uneducated.
This does not mean that articles cannot be critical. But in doing so, there are inherent responsibilities the writer must consider.
We cannot underestimate the negative impact of polarising narratives, as the perpetrators of the mass shootings in Buffalo (New York), El Paso (Texas) and Christchurch (New Zealand) convinced themselves into believing that native-born whites were being threatened with displacement by foreigner "invaders".
This is why there is a danger in publishing articles that repeat negative themes: it presents an entire group of people and their religion with the stroke of one negative brush. This increases the hatred of and animosity towards the group deemed to be a threat, and this further weakens multicultural and multireligious relations.
In Malaysia, there are also certain concerning trends within media reporting. The clearest example can be seen in the reports about Rohingya refugees. Many headlines and articles focused on issues of their status of being "illegals".
There was less effort to highlight humanitarian issues that would explain their reasons for being forced to leave their country of origin, the challenges faced in their journey — much fewer cover stories of their success and triumphs.
The barrage of negative coverage leads to an explosion of vitriol on social media. Several Rohingya refugees became targets of verbal threats and physical abuse due to the perceived threat to Malaysian society and the false information spread amongst the community about their alleged involvement in criminal activity.
It was disheartening to see Malaysians united in their hate towards refugees, with some even calling for their extermination.
Where was the humanity of Malaysians? Perhaps, we do not think the situation is not serious enough because we would like to believe the hatred is (mostly) confined to the online space.
We tell ourselves that we don't have riots and mass murder. But it starts with seeds of hate, planted in our hearts, which affect our minds and action.
It is easy to fall into the trap of us vs. them. Yes, we have many differences — but that is part of living in a multicultural, multireligious society. These differences should be understood and respected as they form the basis of our unique and distinctive cultural and religious identity.
One of the ways that we can eradicate hate is to focus on our common values. There are so many ethical and moral similarities between the different cultural and religious practices in Malaysia.
For instance, no religion allows for the abuse, vilification, and degradation of another based on their culture, race or religion. All religions espouse values such as honesty, respect, fairness and justice.
These values should be made the foundation of our efforts to strengthen social cohesion. These are the values that can transcend political, socio-economic, racial and religious barriers. Despite the problems within our society (as with all other societies), we still have many wonderful examples of peaceful coexistence.
We have much to be proud of as Malaysians. And, we should increase our effort to contribute towards instilling kindness, increasing understanding and inculcating respect amongst Malaysians from all backgrounds, according to our own unique capacities.
The writer is senior lecturer, Department of Government and Civilisation Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She can be contacted at email: murni@upm.edu.my