A brazen bid by the Sabah Islamic Affairs Department to smother religious tolerance in the state has angered SAPP.
KOTA KINABALU: The state government cannot arbitrarily move to enforce the anti-apostasy laws in Sabah, according to Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) deputy president Amde Sidik.
Amde, who has taught law, said that Section 64 of Title VI in the Malaysia Agreement states that the establishment or maintenance of Muslim institutions in Sabah should have the consent of the governor.
“This means that such an act should first be passed in the State Legislative Assembly,” he said.
He said that Section 65 of Title VI also states that Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution, which allows for states to prohibit the propagation of non-Islamic religions to Muslims, shall not apply to Sabah.
“I think the public in Sabah should be allowed to make their own views known before implementing a policy as sensitive as this.
The Sabah Islamic Affiars Department (JHEAINS) has not made an effort to inform the public. This is rather an abrupt and wrong way of looking at public interest,” he said.
Amde added that it was worrying to note that JHEAINS was going out of its way to smother the state’s well-known religious tolerance by imposing its own values.
“I think the department is going a bit overboard. Is it now an agent receiving instructions from KL religious people?
“Is this a grand design to control the mindset of people living in Sabah and yet talk about religious tolerance and 1Malaysia?” he asked.
Amde was commenting on a report “Sabah to crack down on apostates” in the local media.
JHEAINS director Amri Suratman said last month that the anti-apostasy laws would be enforced in Sabah once its Faith Rehabilitation Centre in Kinarut is ready by next year.
Amde described the move as “one more of those steps that aim to completely erode the Malaysia Agreement of 1963″. (Queville To | January 24, 2011 )
Friday, January 28, 2011
ReplyDeleteTime Non-Muslim Ministers Stand Up
Recently, Sabah Progressive Party(SAPP)'s vice-presidednt, Amde Sidek voiced concern over the building of the Faith Rehabilitation Centre in Kinarut.
It is indeed very courageous of him as a Muslim to speak out against it. Unfortunately Kadazandusun and Murut politicians who are not Muslims including those who sit in the state cabinet choose to be mum over the issue.
Perhaps they do not wish to interfere in issues which they may consider an Islamic problem. The fact is, when people are detained for converting to another religion, then it is no longer an Islamic issue. What if a person converts from Islam to Christianity? Then the authorities would be detaining a person who belongs to the Christian faith.
And when non-Muslim politicians say they are doing something about it, but not wanting their efforts to be published, we should also be wondering. Why is it that those who trample on non-Muslim rights can freely have their intentions published, but those wish to defend the non-Muslims cannot do so? Is it cowardice? Or is it because these politicians are afraid of losing their positions if they speak out.
There have been many issues affecting non-Muslims in recent years but the number of non-Muslim politicians speaking out is few and at times non-existent. In the case of the "Allah" issue not a single one spoke out save for Tan Sri Bernard Dompok of the United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun-Murut Organization (UPKO). But that was not enough.
When the Federal Court denied Lina Joy, a Christian the right to be called a Christian, still the leaders kept quiet.
But see what happened when the High Court ruled that Christians had the right to use the word "Allah". Many Muslims including ministers spoke out against the decision.
It is time the non-Muslim leaders in Sabah and Sarawak woke up and rally together as one voice to speak out against all these injustices. If only they spoke out as one voice, even the government-owned media will not be able to ignore them. This is because several ministers speaking out against injustices at the same time and together will surely attract foreign media, both print and electronic.
This should not be seen as going against the government, but should be seen as protecting the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 from irresponsibe people.
The question is: for the sake of the non-Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak, will the leaders of these communities willing to come together and speak against the current injustices? And do they have the guts to stand up for their people?
Saying they are already doing something about it is not enough. It proves nothing. We need to see press statements coming from this leaders, not one leader but all these leaders.
Issues:
1. Ban on the word "Allah" for Christians
2. Restrictions on the Malay-language Bible and Malay-language Christian literature.
3. Edicts against building of non-Muslim statues in public places.
4. Mazu statue.
5. Building of Faith Rehabilitation Centre and enforcement of anti-apostasy laws.
Posted by North Borneo Herald