Marina: "Christians have right to Allah"

Social activist Marina Mahathir slammed government leaders for failing to speak up when conservative groups threatened to demonstrate in front of churches over the past week.

Muslim pressure group Sekretariat Solidariti Muslim Klang is demanding that Christians conform to a government ban that prevents them from using the word 'Allah', which they say is exclusive for Muslims.

Marina this morning turned up in front of the Lady of Lourdes Church in Klang with some 40 people, mostly Muslims, in solidarity with Christians as the Muslim group protested at a nearby field.

She hit out at the government for refusing to rein in such conservative groups that have taken a confrontational stance.

"Our leaders should not be silent. Everyone is complaining that the silence is deafening and far from elegant. It is certainly incriminating.

"Everyone is alarmed. I'm not alone in this. Everyone is asking, where are our leaders? As a great leader, he should be here, not us," she said without naming names.

When asked if she was referring to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, she replied, "Whoever. He should be here. As a leader he should be better than us."

She also condemned Thursday's raid by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) on the Bible Society of Malaysia where 351 Malay and Iban language bible which used the word 'Allah' were confiscated.

"We are now known as a country where people grab bibles from a house of worship.  Is that how we want to be known?

"We can forget about Visit Malaysia Year, (the situation) is hardly an example of moderation," she said.

'Christians have right to Allah'

Marina, who is the daughter of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, added that Christians should be allowed to use the word 'Allah' as it is within their own congregation and they are not propagating their religion to Muslims.

She said the newly set up National Unity Consultative Council by the government, of which she is a member, will hold its first meeting tomorrow and the raid will be the first item on the agenda.

Among the groups that took up arms against the Christians was Selangor Umno, who last week also threatened to protest in front of churches after Christian publication The Herald editor Lawrence Andrew insisted that Christian will continue to use the word 'Allah'.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's thumbs up for the move drew a backlash of fire from critics.

Yesterday, Selangor Umno did an about turn and banned its members from attending such rallies, citing the need to maintain harmony.

The controversy began when in 2010 the High Court ruled that the Home Ministry's earlier ban on The Herald from using the word 'Allah was unconstitutional.

The landmark decision provoked a series of church burnings and the Court of Appeal last year overturned the decision arguing that the word 'Allah' was not integral to the Christian faith.

The Catholic Church is appealing the decision and insists that Islamic authorities have no power to dictate the internal affairs of other religions.