Jais urged to return Bibles, apologize

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KOTA KINABALU: The action by officers from Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) in raiding and seizing copies of the bible from the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) is indeed regrettable, Upko Youth chief Arthur Sen said.

Sen said Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, being the supreme law of the land, guarantees all religions the right to practice and profess their faith freely in accordance with law.

“There was no justification for JAIS to take such provocative action. The bibles were within the building and the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia. It was not published in any way nor was it distributed in the state of Selangor.

“The action and conduct of the officers from JAIS in threatening to enter the premises of BSM by force is offensive, unreasonable and without justification,” he said and pointed out that the The bible is the holy book of the Christian faith, it should be shown and handled with utmost respect.

“But to be confiscated in such a manner is unacceptable and should never be condoned by anyone. Imagine how would followers of other faiths feel when their holy books are treated in such a way?” Sen opined.

Sen added that it must also be highlighted that the Federal Government had agreed to a 10 point solution in 2011 concerning the Bahasa Malaysia bible distribution in Malaysia. Point number two (2) of the 10 point solution clearly says that bibles can even be printed locally including in Peninsular Malaysia.

Therefore, what are the justification of JAIS in raiding and confiscating the bibles? The action of JAIS will only create anxiety between religious faiths especially so towards the Christian faithful. Such unwelcome risk could and should be avoided, he opined.

He questioned the State government of Selangor’s silence on the issue as it is perceived to condone such harmful and irresponsible action by the officers from JAIS.

Sen said that before this Pakatan Rakyat leaders have given many statements opposing previous actions of confiscating and seizing of bibles.

“It is time for them to prove their sincerity in what they have been advocating for. If it is for the reason that the churches in Selangor has to comply with the prohibitions of non-Muslim from using 35 Arabic words which includes ‘Allah’ as stated in the Selangor Non-Islamic Religious (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) enactment 1998, then having a two-third majority in the State Assembly would allow them to amend such law if they truly feel that such law violates the religious freedom of non-Muslims.

“Challenges concerning religious issues faced by a multicultural society such as our young nation are not an easy one but it is one that we should not be afraid to face.

“We must strive to educate our people about the meaning of religious tolerance, respect and understanding more so when we are faced with irresponsible individuals and/or groups who try to create and use religious issues to gain political mileage and/or for reason(s) known only to them,” he stressed.

“The concept of 1Malaysia that is being promoted by our government is best shown by the inter-race and interfaith relations of the people of Sabah. We are proud to say that the usage of Allah in the Malay version of the bible has never caused any public disorder or confusion amongst the various races with different religious background. On the contrary, we embrace the diversity that we have and have learned to live harmoniously with tolerance and respect being the bond that binds us as Sabahans.

“By expressing our concern and demand here does not mean that we are disrespecting the feelings of a particular religious group or any other religious group for that matter. What we seek is tolerance, respect and understanding amongst every citizen of different religious background in our beloved country that we call Malaysia,” he said.

Therefore, Sen stressed, it is the stand of Upko Youth that JAIS must take responsibility for their action and return immediately all Bibles that were seized without condition to BCM and issue a public apology for their provocative and offensive action especially so towards Christian followers in Malaysia.

Further to that, JAIS must also give an assurance that similar action would not be repeated in the future, he pointed out.