DAP trio in bid to amend Selangor law behind Jais raid
(MM) – As confusion reigns over yesterday’s shocking raid by Islamic authorities on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), three DAP state representatives today banded together in a bid to amend the state law at the centre of the controversial action.
Criticising the so-called enforcement by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and police yesterday as reckless and unprecedented, Damansara assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin (pic), Bukit Gasing representative Rajiv Rishyakaran and Lau Weng San of Kampung Tunku called the raid a wake-up call to address the 1988 state law barring “Allah” and 34 other words to non-Muslims.
“We were shocked by the unprecedented Jais action yesterday, raiding the Bible Society of Malaysia for bibles containing the words ‘Allah’.
“Jais has acted in the name of enforcing the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, which was passed under the Barisan Nasional regime,” the three said in a joint statement today.
Categorising the enactment as contravening Article 11 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion, the trio said they will attempt to revise the law during the next session of the state assembly to be consistent with the Article while still providing the necessary safeguards against proselytisation to Muslims.
“We seek the support of all Selangor lawmakers to vote for an amendment to the Selangor Non- Islamic Religions Enactment 1988 in the spirit of the Federal Constitution to ensure that the rights of all Malaysians are given equal protection under the law, as conceived by our forefathers,” they added.
The Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, passed by the then Barisan Nasional state government, prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faith, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya’Allah” (God willing).
It was used by Jais yesterday when it dispatched a team of 20 religious officials and police officers to raid the BSM office in Petaling Jaya where it seized over 300 copies of the AlKitab and Bup Kudus; two top BSM officials were also detained in the raid.
But lawyers have since questioned the authority of Islamic authorities to raid the BSM premises or seize the bibles, pointing out that Jais and other such departments have no jurisdiction over non-Muslims.
They also cast doubt on the validity and constitutionality of enactment that they say impinged on the right to religious freedom.
Today, the three lawmakers urged their colleagues and countrymen to be “bold” in moving towards a fairer and more equitable Malaysia.
“We must not let the extremists in our midst to dictate the state and national agenda to the extent that the minorities are victimised unjustly.”
Temperatures have risen of late over the so-called “Allah” row that remains unresolved four years after it shocked the nation and led to the worst religious strife in the country’s history.
Umno Selangor and Muslim groups are now set to protest outside churches this Sunday over Christians’ refusal to yield to their insistence that “Allah” was exclusive to Islam in Malaysia.
Putrajaya previously sought to reassure the Christian population of Sabah and Sarawak that the ban did not apply to them, issuing a 10-point solution in 2011 that allowed them the continued use of “Allah”.
But yesterday’s action against BSM, which holds the distribution rights to Malay- and indigenous-language bibles used in the two states, has thrown this into doubt.
The ongoing legal dispute between the government and the Catholic Church over its right to print the word “Allah” in the Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia section is still pending before the Federal Court, which is set to hear arguments from both sides on February 24 before deciding on whether it will hear an appeal by the Catholic Church.
