Attacks on Christian churches in Malaysia tell us more about shifting political faultlines than about religious attitudes in this multi-ethnic, multi-faith society, writes Amrita Malhi.

The ground floor of a three-storey building on a busy corner stands gutted by fire, as cars and pedestrians stream by. Inside, burnt-out computers and monitors lie surrounded by shards of broken glass and concrete, blackened by smoke. Outside, police find a spanner, a kerosene container and two scorched motorcycle helmets.

This is the Assemblies of God Metro Tabernacle in the shopping precinct of Desa Melawati, a suburb on Kuala Lumpur's northern fringe. Arsonists attacked its offices, breaking the ground floor windows at midnight on 8 January and throwing molotov cocktails inside the building. Witnesses reported four men, riding together on two motorbikes, speeding from the scene.

Two other attacks on churches took place in the early darkness that morning. A fourth happened in broad daylight, during peak hour. Since then, Malaysia has experienced a wave of arson and vandalism attempts on churches around the country, raising fears that illiberal members of the majority Muslim community are threatening non-Muslims' right to worship freely.

The arson attempts followed the conclusion last month of a two-year case before the High Court in the federal jurisdiction of Kuala Lumpur. The court had been asked to decide whether the Malaysian government could prevent non-Muslims from using the term "Allah" to describe God in religious texts and proceedings in the Malay language.

Read the rest of this piece at Inside Story: http://inside.org.au/identity-politics/

Amrita Malhi researches Islamist mobilisation in colonial and postcolonial Southeast Asia at the Australian National University. Inside Story is edited at the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology in association with The Australian National University. Selected articles from Inside Story appear in the Forum section of the Canberra Times.