DAP reps to consult leaders after jumping gun on Selangor law
(MM) – Caught in a religious fire, two DAP assemblymen said today they will consult Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders on their next move after receiving flak for their hasty call to tighten a controversial state law that touches on minority rights.
Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin (pic above) and her Kampung Tunku counterpart Lau Weng San said they stood by their proposal to amend the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, after the state’s Islamic guardians raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and seized over 300 copies of the Christian holy books that contained the word “Allah”.
“Individually as a lawmaker, [I think] this enactment should be amended for the long-term benefit of the people,” Yeo told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“But [because] we want to move as a coalition, we will have to get all the lawmakers to agree,” she said.
Lau Weng San
The first-time lawmaker insisted the provisions in the state law contradicted Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees Malaysians the freedom to practise their respective religions in peace and harmony.
However, she declined to elaborate until she and her two other DAP colleagues who mooted the amendment had spoken with leaders from the state ruling bloc.
Yeo, Lau and Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran had penned an open letter last Friday calling for the 1988 Selangor law that restricts non-Muslims from 35 words—including “Allah”, the Arabic word for God—on the basis they were exclusive to Islam.
Their suggestion drew the wrath of several Muslim activists and earned them a reprimand from PR’s de facto chief, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who chastised the trio for jumping the gun.
Anwar had compared their haste in issuing the statement to the surprise raid by officials from the Selangor Islamic Religous Department (Jais) on BSM last Thursday, which also drew public outrage for policing another faith.
Rajiv has yet to reply to The Malay Mail Online’s request for comment.
Lau told The Malay Mail Online that he acccepted the criticism with an open heart.
“As for the amendments, the most important thing is to discuss this internally because at the moment, we have not had the chance to discuss with other people,” he said when contacted.
Lau said the trio will raise the issue with party leaders besides approaching the PR leadership and the Selangor government.
“As for whether we are going to propose it or not we will have to go through the discussions before we proceed,” he said.
The second-term assemblyman said their discussion will include how to resolve the controversy at its root—the Muslim-Christian tussle for the right to use “Allah”.
