Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, MCA tells govt

(Malaysian Mirror) – MCA has asked the government to reconsider its decision not to renew the permit of the weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald, saying it would be seen as stifling religious freedom.

 “The action by the authorities is unconstitutional and totally unacceptable. It is counter-productive against initiating trust between religious bodies and the government,” said MCA spokesman Gan Ping Sieu here on Thursday.

“By denying The Herald’s permit renewal, the Home Ministry could be misconstrued as taking punitive action over the religious publication’s suit against the government on the usage restriction of the ‘Allah’ terminology.”

The Herald’s editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, told AFP the ministry had cancelled the 2010 permit without giving any reason.

Permit approved, then retracted

The ministry had initially approved the publication’s permit renewal in a letter dated on Aug 3 but retracted it in another letter dated Sept 5.

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