KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — Repercussions of the intractable row over “Allah” appear to set to grow today, with a Sabah group issuing a “war cry” over Putrajaya’s move to keep the Arabic word exclusive to Islam.

Calling itself Perpaduan Anak Negeri Sabah (PAN), the group fired off an angry missive trotting off the issues chafing against the indigenous population ― simmering under the surface for years but was now bubbling over from the tug-of-war over the Arabic word for God.

“Under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, as indigenous people of Sabah, we enjoy protection and preferential treatment in the same manner as Malays in the peninsula. We were promised this. We expect the government elected by the people to honour their promises,” said Esther Golingi, the chairman of the group, in a statement.

But Golingi noted that rather than delivering on the promise, Putrajaya instead “betrayed” Sabah residents by allowing an influx of foreigners to dilute the local population of Bumiputera.

“Today, we have lost our God-given freedom in every sense of the word. We are not even allowed to refer to God as Allah in our liturgical language.

“Worst still, we are not even allowed to teach our children and their children about God, whom they know as Allah, the almighty creator of the universe and all that is in it,” Golingi continued.

Full religious freedom had been guaranteed to Sabah when it signed the 20-point agreement to join the Federation of Malaysia, but this was later curtailed when Islam was made the state religion in a 1973 constitutional amendment.

Golingi said that the introduction of a state enactment for the administration of Islam in Sabah meant that religious freedom in the state was now a “lie”, noting that Allah” was among over 30 words barred to non-Muslims in the state.

The Al-Kitab Malay language bible that locals use for their worship was also officially banned in 1981 and remains so after all these years, the group said.

Tempers over the long-drawn battle between Muslims and Christians have flared of late, after the Court of Appeal overturned a 2009 High Court ruling upholding the Catholic Church’s right to use “Allah” outside an Islamic context.

Controversially, the appellate court saw fit to add that “Allah” was not integral to Christian worship — a decision that some say effectively bars the term to all except Muslims.

Since then, Christians have become increasingly defiant in stating that they will not back down from using the word in their religious practices.

Putrajaya has sought to assuage Sabah and Sarawak, which both host sizeable Christian populations and are considered Barisan Nasional (BN) “vote banks, that the ban was limited to the peninsula.

But work migration means that many Christians from East Malaysia are now based here, as evidenced by the growing number of evangelical churches with congregations that that are predominantly from the Borneo states.

Recently, the Selangor Islamic Department (JAIS) also started actively seeking out Christians that it says are illegally using “Allah”, which may force what has been so far an administrative ban on religious materials into the realm of Christian worship.

Aside from the perceived curbs on Christian practices, PAN also railed against what it called the wrongful conversion of Sabah natives to Islam, alleging that authorities were surreptitiously listing them as Islam in identity document such as the MyKad.

“Our children are systematically converted in schools and hostels and even at kindergartens and children day care centres,” Golingi said.

“Today, we say it’s time to sound our war cry. Let us mamangkis! Ooooo.......Kiii.....hoiiii!”

Members of Perkasa hold a rally outside the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on October 14, 2013 before the court ruling on the ‘Allah’ appeal. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

The new Sabah effort mirrors an ongoing resistance in Sarawak over the “Allah” row. Earlier this month, Iban Christians rallied in Kuching to demand the return of religious freedom guaranteed by the 18-point agreement and Federal Constitution.

Ahead of the Sarawak state election in 2011, Putrajaya came up with a 10-point solution that would ostensibly allow the Borneo states to continue using “Allah” while curbing its use among non-Muslims in the peninsula.

But the recent developments have thrown this into doubt, despite the efforts of Cabinet ministers from the two states to insist on its continued validity.

The tussle over “Allah” arose in 2008 when Catholic newspaper Herald was barred by the Home Ministry from using the Arabic word.

Since the October ruling, the Catholic Church has appealed to the country’s top court for clarity on the religious row that has drawn deep lines between Malaysia’s non-Muslim minorities and its 60 per cent Muslim population, with the Federal Court fixing February 24 next year to hear the application for appeal.

Bumiputera Christians, who form about 64 per cent or close to two-thirds of the Christian community in Malaysia, have used the word “Allah” when praying and speaking in the national language and their native tongues for centuries.