KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Council of Churches has called on the Sabah State Government to stand steadfast and take authority in defending the rights of true Sabahans in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Its president Rev Datuk Jerry Dusing, pointed out that the Federal Government’s policy of determining one’s citizenship and religious identity through the National Registration Department has caused chaos to the demographics of Sabah.
“Firstly, the spirit of the provision for ‘Citizenship’ under the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGC) and MA63 is that the Federal Government’s policies must not discriminate the inhabitants of Sabah. Secondly, the choice of religious belief and identification of our people should be the sole discretion of the individual himself as per MA63,” he said in a statement recently.
Jerry stressed that Sabahans are united in their stand against any deceptive attempt that challenges their guaranteed religious freedom under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Under this Agreement, secularism is guaranteed. Sabah and Malaysia are secular nations.
He also said that the recent amendment to the Income Tax Act 1967 that seeks tax donations for non-Muslim religious bodies had caused lots of confusion.
“We urge the Prime Minister to explain the rationale behind the amendment, define clearly the intended targeted bodies and clarify why it involves only non-Muslim religious bodies.
“As Sabahans are intensively seeking the truth of MA63 and embracing our rights and inheritance as a sovereign nation under the same, we look to the future with hope for our people and our land. We do not ask for more than what we have been promised. All we ask is for the truth to be established and justice restored in accordance with MA63…”