On Herald seizure, Ambiga asks if ‘left hand knows what the right hand is doing’: KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The Home Ministry’s unexplained seizure of the Catholic weekly The Herald conflicts directly with the federal government’s directive on the “Allah” ban and places the Najib administration “in an embarrassing position”, Datuk Ambiga Sreenavesan has said. The vocal former bar council president and human rights activist charged that the incident either signalled a disconnect between the top and bottom leadership, or was yet another example of “broken promises” by Putrajaya in protecting minority rights. “The seizure conflicts directly with what the PM said only a few days ago. Either the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing or this is yet another example of broken promises. “Who gave the orders for the seizure that has put the PM in a very embarrassing situation?” Ambiga, who is also the co-chairman of popular poll reform group Bersih 2.0, told The Malay Mail Online. According to Herald editor Fr Lawrence Andrew, around 2,000 copies of the weekly publication were seized at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on Thursday, apparently on order of the Home Ministry. “The consignment arrived at 2.54pm on Thursday, and it was checked by KDN officials as the usual practice,” he told The Malay Mail Online, referring to the Home Ministry’s Malay acronym. “The forwarding company were however told not to release the consignment. The company checked again on Friday at 10am, and were told that the consignment has been withheld. No reason was given,” Lawrence added. But in a sudden about-turn yesterday, Home Ministry officials ordered a release of the publications and allowed the consignment to reach its Catholic readers in the east Malaysian state. The flip-flop, although lauded by the Catholic church, only left more question marks in its wake and uncertainty over the possibility of more such bans in the future. Calling the ban “bizarre”, Andrew told The Malay Mail Online that the ministry must explain the episode. He pointed out that apart from the church, many lawmakers are also keen on finding out why the ministry had ordered the ban in the first place. “It is a very funny situation. The copies were already in the hands of the forwarding agents, but they were told not to distribute the Herald. “They could only release it on the instructions of the authority,” he said. The distribution ban is the latest incident to hit the controversial tussle between the Catholic Church and the government over the use of the word “Allah”. Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the use of the word in the Herald was justified, as the use of the word “Allah” was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith. Analysts said the decision could potentially hurt the ruling coalition’s support in its traditional votebank states of Sabah and Sarawak, two states with the biggest Christian population. To contain the potential backlash, government leaders, including Najib, claimed the ruling could only apply to Herald and that Christians in the Borneo states could still use “Allah” in the Malay translation of the bible and in their mass. But critics disagreed and said the ruling had wider implication and that the government’s position and the court’s decision has created a “confused” country practicing “two laws for one nation”. Ambiga said the Herald confiscation incident was a reflection of this and Putrajaya must show more resolve to sort the quagmire immediately. “The Rakyat is owed an explanation. There must be clarity”. Despite the court decision, churches in Sabah and Sarawak have said that they will continue their age-old practice of referring to God as “Allah” in their worship and in their holy scriptures. Several ministers also said recently that the 10-point solution issued by Putrajaya in 2011 - which allows the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Christian bible, containing the word “Allah” - should stand, despite the appellate court ruling. The Najib administration issued the 10-point solution shortly before the Sarawak state election in 2011 to end a Home Ministry blockade of shipments of Christian holy scriptures in the Malay language containing the word “Allah”. And after much criticism over his silence on the issue, Najib finally came out in public issued a statement on the fiasco, saying the Appeals Court’s decision on the use of the word Allah does not affect Christians in Sabah and Sarawak. Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the contents in the 10-Point Agreement decided by the federal Cabinet on the matter would be maintained for the two states. “...Recently when the Appeals Court made its decision on the use of the word Allah, it did not at all touch on the practices of Christians in Sabah and Sarawak, in fact the 10-Point Agreement is still being maintained,” he said. dlvr.it/4CpTfS
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 02:20:08 +0000