Anwar to Jais: Return bibles to BSM

(MM) – The Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) should return the 300 bibles in the Malay and Iban languages it seized from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.

The opposition leader said he disagreed with the “high-handed” way in which Jais confiscated the bibles, adding that the Islamic religious authorities could have addressed the issue in a better way.

“The manner is which it was confiscated should not have happened…give them back,” Anwar told a news conference at the PKR headquarters here.

He said the Pakatan Rakyat pact had always been consistent in their stand on the use of the word “Allah” though he said the bibles in the Malay and Iban languages should not be made available to Muslims here.

“The role of the state government is to advise the ruler… whilst we respect state laws and position of Islam and there is no need to compromise on faith, we must be clear that every citizen in this country must be accorded the same respect and they must be of a certain decorum,” Anwar said.

The Permatang Pauh MP stressed that the failure to respect the sensitivities of other religions would be “dangerous” and detrimental to a multi-religious country like Malaysia.

“The manner in which it was done, the seizing of bibles, I would not want it to be done to Muslims,” he said.

At the same time however, Anwar added that non-Muslims needed to be aware that the “Allah” issue is something he claimed affected many rural Malay-Muslims.

“It is a problem in the Malay heartland, if you fail to acknowledge it. There has to be a better information exercise in the rural heartland. Muslims think they are under siege,” he added.

Two weeks ago, Jais raided the premises of the BSM in Petaling Jaya in a bid to enforce the state ban, carting off over 300 copies of the bible in both the Malay and Iban language.

The seizure was widely condemned by civil society groups and political parties on both sides of the fence, who said the raid was illegal and accused Jais of overstepping its jurisdiction over Muslims.