KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and other senior Barisan Nasional (BN) federal leaders not to give in to extreme religious views of certain Malay rights groups threatening to export their fight to ban the use of “Kalimah Allah” to Sabah and Sarawak.
PBS secretary general Datuk Henrynus Amin yesterday said the party respected the on-going legal process, but at the same time, the party found the rhetoric used by these Malay rights groups very provocative and dangerous.
He said threats made by certain Malays rights group to export their fight to Sabah and Sarawak had provoked widespread anger or fear and inevitably anti-West Malaysian sentiments.
However, he appealed to Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to remain calm since the legal process is still on-going.
Henrynus also appealed to the federal authorities not to allow the overt display of hostility by certain Malay rights groups towards the Christian community.
He regretted that these Malay rights activists were making open threats to export their religious fight to Sabah and Sarawak with total impunity.
He said regardless of the court decision, the indigenous Christian community will continue to use the Malay Bibles which include “Kalimah Allah” to refer to their God in their liturgy or daily worship.
“The court decision cannot be easily enforced on the private lives of the people of Sabah and Sarawak.”
He said his main concern as a PBS leader was that people in Sabah and Sarawak who were Christians were blaming Barisan Nasional and the federal government for their predicament.
He said the people of Sabah and Sarawak, Muslims and Non-Muslims, did not share the extreme racial and religious views of these Malay rights groups in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Our people have been living side by side for generations in spite of racial and religious differences and we understand and support each other. We have our own way of thinking and doing things. So we would not tolerate alien culture or way of thinking coming from Peninsula Malaysia to destroy racial and religious harmony in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said in a statement.
He said national integration and national unity was already at its best with PBS’ return to the BN fold in 2002.
However, he said anti-West Malaysian sentiments were slowly creeping in back into the minds of the people of Sabah, especially the younger generation.
Henrynus said the court decision to ban the use of “Kalimah Allah” in Christian publication might have fundamentally changed the rules of the game.
“Regardless of what the court says or justifies, the people of Sabah and Sarawak view the court decision as an attack, or at best, an affront to the sacred principles of religious freedom.
“We should remind ourselves that the basis for Sabah’s entry to the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 was predicated on the successful negotiation of the 20-Point demands which include the guarantees and assurances on freedom of religion.”
“The guarantees and assurances for the freedom of religion in Sabah were commemorated onto an oath stone still in Keningau today as reminders to future generations that the Interior Kadazandusun and Murut community have pledged their allegiance to Malaysia on the basis of guarantees and assurances on freedom of religion.”
“For the court to take away such fundamental liberties against established historical facts may have put into serious doubt the legitimacy of the formation of Malaysia,” he said.
Meanwhile, Henrynus agreed with Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar that the court decision was not final since political decision of the ruling government could still override any court decision for the sake of national interest.
“We therefore urge the Prime Minister and his cabinet to exercise their wisdom and have the political will to bring together divergent views on race and religion to the negotiating table to resolve issues once and for all.
“We have gone a long way to build bridges among the various racial and religious communities, and it would be sad if a handful of people with dubious motives were to be allowed to destroy the bridge of understanding and cooperation we have built together in these 50 years as Malaysians,” he added.