KUALA LUMPUR: Missionaries from abroad must undergo police vetting for green light to give lectures in Malaysia.
This is to ensure extreme beliefs, including those with militant elements do not spread in the country, said Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Principal Assistant Director of Counter Terrorism, SAC Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
He said, as such, a mechanism should be created to filter missionaries from abroad.
He said based on past experiences, ideologies with militant elements and extremism were brought by foreigners into the country, among them, the Jemaah Islamiyah and Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT).
“If possible, every preacher or foreign speaker who comes for religious sermons should be adequately screened by the police first … which means, the religious departments should refer them to us first, and we screen them before they (the department) commission them.
“An important aspect is to control or curb the entry of individuals or so-called preachers, but they bring in extremist ideologies that are contrary to true Islamic foundations,” he told Bernama after becoming a panel member at the Purification of Faith 2014; Reining in Extremist Religious Doctrines Seminar here.
Ayob Khan recalled there were some instances where no (state) religious department referred to the police on their entry (entry of foreign preachers), before commissioning them to give lectures in the country.
Referring the matter to the police was an early preventive measure to curb militant ideologies, extremism and so on, he said.
“For example, before this, there were some individuals who were not allowed to preach in Arab countries and also some western countries like the United States and so on, but they were allowed to come and give lectures, purportedly religious sermons, in the country (Malaysia),” he noted. He also pointed out that there were some cases where foreign missionaries tried using the support of certain renowned personalities to obtain permanent residency (PR) status here to enable them to spread their ideologies.
On the recent presentation of the White Paper on ‘Addressing Terrorism’ by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Ayob Khan said his department fully supported the fact, whether the government wanted to enact new laws or strengthen the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
“With the current threat from militants, we need to further streamline Sosma to facilitate the submission of evidence in court,” he said.
While presenting the White Paper, Najib, on behalf of the government, appealed for public support in efforts to contain the ideology of IS militant groups and proposed new legislations to curb the involvement of Malaysians in such activities.
He said the government intended to present the new legislation in the next Parliamentary session.
On another development, Ayob Khan said he did not rule out the possibility of some non-governmental organisations aiding militant groups in countries with conflict, including Syria. — Bernama