Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today finally broke his silence on the Allah controversy, saying the ban on non-Muslims from using the word will stand in states which have such provision under law. Najib added that the 10-point solution which allowed Bibles to use the word Allah was also subjected to such enactments. The (Umno) supreme council takes note of the 10-point agreement agreed upon by the cabinet, but the 10-point agreement is subjected to federal and state laws. That means in states where there are such enactments, it means it (10-point solution) is subjected to the enactment at the state level. But there are no such enactments in Sabah and Sarawak, therefore they can continue as usual, he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting this evening. He added that the Agong’s declaration that non-Muslims cannot use the word ‘Allah’ was done in his capacity as the Kedah Sultan thus it was confined to Kedah which also has an enactment banning non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’. As such, Najib said there was no need for any scare tactics on the matter. “There is no need for any parties to intimidate other parties,” he said. When asked if this meant that the state enactments superseded the 10-point solution, Najib replied: “It’s not supersede, in the 10-point agreement, there is formal recognition in one of the points that it must be based on federal and state laws.” The point Najib referred to is found in point number 9, which states: “Beyond the Bible issue, the government wishes to reiterate its commitment to work with the Christian groups and all the different religious groups in order to address inter religious issues and work towards the fulfilment of all religious aspirations in accordance with the constitution, taking into account the other relevant laws of the country.”
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 11:27:25 +0000
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