‘Disrespectful’ to force removal of cross from church, Selangor MB says

(Malay Mail Online) – The Selangor administration expressed dissatisfaction today at the group of protesters who reportedly demanded that a church in Taman Medan remove the cross it had hung on its facade.

According to The Star Online, Mentri Besar Azmin Ali pointed out that to Christians, the cross is a sacred symbol and forcing its removal is disrespectful to the community.

“To force them to remove the symbol is certainly unacceptable and disrespectful to the Christian community,” Azmin was quoted telling reporters after this morning’s monthly meeting with state civil servants.

Yesterday, it was reported that around 50 residents of Taman Medan staged a protest against a new church in the area for putting up a cross on its facade.

The group claimed that putting up a cross in a Malay-majority area is a challenge to Islam and could influence young Muslims.

Police arrived about 30 minutes after the protest began to act as intermediaries between the protesters and church leaders.

It is understood that the church took down the cross several hours later.

Weighing in on the matter last night, DAP MP Tony Pua urged Putrajaya to live up to its pledge to protect religious groups from hostility, in accordance with the spirit of the amendments to the Sedition Act 1948.

He said if the Taman Medan incident had been reversed and non-Muslims instead had chosen to protest outside a surau or mosque, the authorities would have likely been faster to respond.

Pua also said the Taman Medan issue is far from over, since the church had voluntarily agreed to take down the cross “under threat and intimidation”.

“The bigger issue is the fact that if the authorities do not act to protect the minorities in this country, the majority will just become big bullies and take similar actions against others who are just practising what is protected by our Federal Constitution,” he said.