Selangor palace played big role in return of bibles, say insiders
(Malay Mail Online) – The Selangor palace played an instrumental role in ensuring the return of 321 bibles seized from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) during a raid by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) on Jan 2, sources said.
Insiders, who were in the thick of the negotiations involving the palace, Jais, Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and Christian groups, said talks were held months earlier, even during Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s tenure as menteri besar but stalled because of the power struggle in the state.
Khalid was later replaced by Azmin Ali as menteri besar.
“There were many meetings, rounds of negotiations … all done under wraps so as to not offend any party. It was supposed to be concluded earlier but the menteri besar crisis delayed it as the palace was preoccupied,” the source close to the palace said.
“This matter dragged on for too long and that was never the intention.”
Azmin, in a statement yesterday, said he pledged to have the bibles returned to the Christians as they belonged to them.
He also stressed all parties must respect the status of Islam as the state religion, and that “extremist sentiments, race baiting and religious fanaticism will not be part of the administration of the state”.
MIC Youth leader C. Sivarraajh, who congratulated Azmin, said in a statement that the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman “found a solution which Khalid could not”.
Another source said: “It was not one man’s effort. In fact the palace did a lot to reach the amicable solution. The main objective was to send a clear message to all, that religion — Islam, Christianity and others — must be respected.”
He said the confiscation of the bibles was a “sensitive issue that had to be treated carefully”.
“Even the press releases issued
(yesterday) by Mais and the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) had to be worded properly as to not offend any party.”
“Hopefully this will set a precedent.”
The Bahasa Malaysia and Iban language bibles, which contained the word “Allah”, were handed to ACS at Istana Alam Shah yesterday.
Mais chairman Datuk Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa gave the bibles to Bishop of Kuching, Reverend Datuk Bolly Lapok, during the ceremony. Present at the handing over were Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Azmin.
The bibles were returned despite calls by certain extremist groups to destroy or burn the holy books.
Political parties, namely DAP, Pas and PKR, were informed of the negotiations.
“Top leaders from DAP, PKR and Pas have accepted this solution but there is concern that the move (of returning the bibles) may not go down well with some of their members,” the source said.
He also did not rule out the possibility of Malay-Muslim hardliners coming down hard on Jais, Mais and even the Selangor palace for resorting to such a move.
“But it is something we have to live with. The end objective is for there to be mutual respect among each other,” he said.
