In a joint statement, the organisation said the state government, which is the original party to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, has a moral and legal duty to protect it.
“It is high time our state government stand up to defend the above sacred agreement, even if the Federal Government of Malaysia might, thus far, seem slow in doing so,” said the group comprising of the Bahasa Malaysia, English and Chinese pastors.
They said Malaysia was now at a crossroad with the passing of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code II Enactment 1993 (amended 2015) by Kelantan on March 19, which it intends to table in Parliament so that it could be effected in the state.
The pastors contend that the move, if implemented, will change Malaysia forever.
The grouping said at the formation of Malaysia, no single ethnic group or religion has been regarded as “superior” to the rest, just as it was in Malaya.
“The fact that Islam has been recognised as the official religion of the federation does not mean all other religions are relegated to an inferior position, nor to alter the social fabric of the country,” the group added.
Stressing that freedom of religion was a key factor in the formation of Malaysia, the group said that any attempts to promote the implementation of policies and laws that would in effect make Malaysia less secular would clearly go against the assurance and guarantees to the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak.
According to the group, the mutual bond and trust have been repeatedly put to test in recent years, and even certain quarters (such as the Sabah dan Sarawak Keluar Malaysia movement) have begun to champion the idea of breaking up the Federation of Malaysia.
“Although we still firmly believe that secession is not the answer, at the same time, we must also acknowledge that such sentiments have arisen out of decades of deep disappointment and even resentment,” the group said.
Muguntan Vanar
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