PAS awaiting feedback on JAIS raid
By Syed Jeymal Zahiid, FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic party PAS will seek a report and feedback from its Selangor leadership on Hasan Ali’s defence of Wednesday night’s raid on a church by the state’s religious body JAIS.
The JAIS raid caused an immediate uproar, resulting in the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government to express regret and ordering a full report from the state agency.
Selangor state exco and former PAS state leader Hasan is in charge of Islamic affairs in the state, and he has defended the JAIS raid.
“I am still looking into this matter…I will wait for the report or details from Selangor PAS and ask for feedbacks from them,” PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali told FMT today
Mustafa, however, did not state if the next course of action would mean punishment for Hasan.
“It is not anything (penalty or reprimand) on any quarters or Hasan individually. This is a state government matter. I will need to look into this matter first,” he said when asked if action should be taken against the Selangor exco.
Following his defence of the raid on a dinner held at a church in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday night, several party members have called for Hasan, known for his conservative Islamic views, to be reprimanded.
One of them is Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the young PAS intellectual, who on his Twitter posting said the Islamist party risked losing non-Malay support should the Selangor exco member escape punishment.
Hasan’s defence – that the raid was justified due to allegations of Christian attempts to convert Muslims – came just hours after Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim scurried to contain public uproar over the raid and ordered JAIS to explain its actions.
