Jais officers behaving like Gestapo, says Bishop Paul Tan
Lee Shi-Ian, TMI
A Catholic leader said the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) has no business questioning Christians on their religion, and questioned whether Jais was employing Gestapo-style tactics in raiding the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) yesterday. (The Gestapo is the Nazi-era police used by Adolf Hilter to oppress Jews and minorities.)
“Yesterday’s raid by Jais was merely the latest in a growing catalogue of infringement by the authorities on the freedom of Christians to practice their religion as enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Sing, the Malacca-Johor diocese, was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini.
“Has Jais, with the aid of the police force, become an insidious type of Gestapo in Malaysia?” he asked.
Tan said the raid by Jais and the questioning of BSM staff violated the 10-point agreement reached between Putrajaya and Christian groups on the controversy over the ‘Allah’ issue.
“The raid on the BSM premises is part of a continuum in the saga of Christian repression by extremists who want to embellish their religious credentials. These extremists hope to make their mark by repressing Christians,” he said.
Tan said only Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak “can stop this ongoing madness”.
“But I fear that he is too craven to take a firm stand and put an end to this drama.
“If Najib keeps mum on the issue, I fear that the downward spiral of the last three years in relations between Muslims and Christians is headed for further deterioration,” Tan told Malaysiakini.
