Bible seizure: Khalid evading responsibility says Pakatan
Two Pakatan Rakyat leaders criticise the Selangor Menteri Besar for washing his hands off the bible seizure fiasco in January
A DAP MP today accused Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim, of shirking his responsibility by telling the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) to write to the Attorney General (AG) for the return of 300 Malay and Iban language bibles.
“The MB’s request is an abdication of responsibility by state government to find a fair and just solution because this involves freedom of religion, including the right to manage one’s own religious affairs as enshrined in Article 11(3) of the Federal Constitution,” said DAP’s Serdang MP, Ong Kian Ming.
Ong said this in response to Khalid’s statement yesterday that BSM write an appeal letter to Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail to get back the bibles.
Khalid said: “Under the present circumstances, it will be the best for them (BSM) to write to the AG. This is also to show that BSM is keen to get the bibles back.”
Miffed by the statement, BSM made it clear that it would do no such a thing as the Selangor Islamic Religious Authority (Jais) comes under the state government’s jurisdiction.
Ong said that Khalid’s statement means that the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government had rescinded from its election promise ‘to govern inclusively, fairly and justly.
He also urged Khalid to reveal the status of Jais’ investigation. “It was Khalid who said on Jan 25 that Jais needed to complete its probe before deciding on the next course of action,” said Ong.
No need to hold on to bibles
Former Selangor exco, Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, also criticised Khalid, saying the state government has the power to instruct Jais to return the bibles to BSM.
