KUCHING: The recent confiscation of Bibles by enforcement officers from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) is a clear transgression of the 10-point Solution arrived at between the federal government and the Christian community in 2011, said Board of Trustees of Yayasan 1Malaysia chairman Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
In an emailed statement from Kuala Lumpur, he pointed out the solution reached on April 2 in 2011 was further reiterated in an official letter from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, nine days later.
Among the points in the solution was that a directive on the Bible has been issued by the secretary-general of the Home Ministry to ensure the proper implementation of this Cabinet decision.
Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders, and a comprehensive briefing by top officials including the attorney-general would be given to all relevant civil servants to ensure good understanding and proper implementation of the directive, he said.
“If this briefing has already been done – it is now two years and eight months since the Solution was announced – were the Jais officials, and indeed, officials in all the other religious departments throughout the country given maximum exposure to the Solution?
“If they were fully informed, would they be guilty of ‘failure to comply’ and would they be subjected to ‘disciplinary action’ for confiscating the bibles?
“More than complying with the 10-point Solution, the Jais officials had also failed to live up to the letter and the spirit of the Malaysian Constitution.
“A number of the points in the Solution such as those that deal with the printing and importation of the Bahasa Bible and their accessibility to Christians in both Sabah and Sarawak and the Malaysian Peninsula, are in harmony with the principle of the Freedom of Religion embodied in Article 11 of the Constitution,” he said.
More than 300 copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia and another 10 copies of the Bible in the Iban language were confiscated in the raid at the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) in Damansara, Petaling Jaya last Thursday, which has sparked an outcry throughout the country.
Meanwhile, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Youth and Women wings in a joint statement issued Saturday demanded top leaders in the federal government to come up with long-term and effective solutions that are sustainable, not only to preserve but to enhance national unity that is currently in a fragile state.
They said the Sarawak government should be commended for promoting unity among all Sarawakians, regardless of their racial, cultural and religious background.
“As Sarawakians, we have great sense of mutual understanding and respect toward each other’s cultures and beliefs.
“This is a tradition we are proud of and intend to uphold for as long as we can,” they said, adding they were concerned for the Sarawak Bumiputera Christians who work and study in the peninsula.