KUCHING: State Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Baru Bian has asked Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to distance himself from his Barisan Nasional (BN) counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia.
Responding to Adenan’s assurance that Christians in Sarawak could practise their religion without any hindrance and freely use the word ‘Allah’ in their worship as long as he was chief minister, Baru called on Adenan not to declare his support for BN at national level.
According to Baru, the fact that Adenan acknowledged that there was a problem of religious discrimination in Peninsular Malaysia should prompt him to address the source of the problem.
“Whilst I applaud him for his magnanimity, the fundamental truth is that the Federal Constitution guarantees Sarawakian Christians our rights to practise our religion and use the word ‘Allah’, regardless of who the chief minister is. That is the law,” he said in a statement.
“It is the BN government to whom he is affiliated and pledged full support for that has allowed this problem to arise and persist by turning a blind eye to the religious bigots who spew their hateful comments and prejudice, justifying their actions by claiming racial supremacy.”
According to Baru, as chief minister, Adenan has no power over the state Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).
“Jais being answerable to the Agong and Jakim to the Prime Minister. In a statement I made in July last year, I had wished to seek clarification from the chief minister as to whether Jais and Jakim in Sarawak needed to seek his approval for any action they might wish to take, which could infringe on the rights of non-Muslims in Sarawak.
“Up until today, I have received no response from the chief minister, Jais and Jakim,” he claimed.