Solve ‘Allah’ controversy soonest — SPDP Youth

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MIRI: SPDP Youth wants the country’s leaders to address soonest the ‘Allah’ controversy to allow harmony to prevail in this multi-religious and culturally-diverse country.

Its Youth chief Robert Ayu said the raid by Selangor Islamic Religious Dept (Jais) one the Bible Society of Malaysia premises last week and the seizure of more than 300 Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban a drastic and insensitive move.

“The country’s leaders should address the issue soonest,” he said in SMS text to The Borneo Post yesterday.

Robert said he had received many messages, including some which he regarded as aggressive in tone over the issue following the raid and seizure of the Bibles in Selangor barely days after Christmas was celebrated.

He said: “When a part of our body is pinched, the other part will feel the pain. It is a blessing in disguise as it will bring Christians closer to God,” he said.

Robert, a Kelabit Christian and lawyer from Bario, said: “During my university days in the late 80s in Selangor, we worshiped in campus among ourselves in our mother tongue using (the word) ‘Allah’. Nobody bothered because we didn’t use it openly or be ‘seen or heard’ by Muslims.”

Selangor executive councillor in-charge of religious affairs, Sallehen Mukhyi, had an hour-long meeting yesterday with Catholic weekly Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew, Klang MP Charles Santiago and Seri Andalas assemblyman Xavier Jeyakumar at the state secretariat office in Shah Alam.

Sallehen later said he would be seeking an explanation from the Home Ministry on its stand on the 10-point resolution, which allows the import of Bibles in Malay after the previous incident of it being banned.

“We need to follow the sultan’s decree in Selangor but we must also see how it fits in with the cabinet’s 10-point resolution,” he said.