A royal decree to shut down pig farms in Malaysia's Selangor state has ignited political tensions. The dispute over pollution has become a flashpoint concerning minority livelihoods and the delicate balance of Malaysia's multiracial politics.

Pig farmers in the central state of Selangor have spent years trying to keep their business out of Malaysia’s culture wars. A royal decree has dragged them straight into one. The state’s decision to shut down pig farms, prompted by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Selangor’s hereditary ruler, has transformed a long-standing local dispute over pollution and odour into a flashpoint touching on royal influence, the livelihoods of a minority community and the delicate balancing act facing Malaysia’s.....