KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 ― Senior Umno leaders’ backing of a surprise raid and protests against churches using the word “Allah” has thrown the Cabinet’s 10-point solution over the Arabic word into doubt, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today.

Lim slammed Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Selangor Umno chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar for allegedly backing the state Islamic authorities' seizure of over 300 copies of bibles containing the word “Allah” last Thursday, suggesting that the two could have “changed their minds” about the 10-point deal.

“In fact, the support given by Muhyiddin and Noh Omar to the illegal and unconstitutional Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) fully aided and abetted by the police raises the serious question about sincerity, seriousness and commitment of UMNO leaders’ to fundamental and constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion for all Malaysians as well as 10-Point Solution to end the Bible controversy endorsed by the Cabinet in April 2011,” the DAP parliamentary leader said in a statement today.

Lim was referring to the Cabinet’s decision in 2011 to allow the Christian community to print, import and distribute bibles containing the word “Allah”.

Lim pointed out that both Muhyiddin and Noh Omar, in their role as the deputy prime minister and the then agriculture minister respectively, had been part of the 2011 Cabinet that agreed on the 10-point deal.

The Gelang Patah MP today asked the prime minister to seek a fresh endorsement of the 10-point solution in this year’s first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, saying that “Cabinet Ministers like Muhyiddin and Noh Omar who endorsed it in April 2011 seemed to have changed their minds”, claiming that this was the only explanation for the duo’s support of Jais’s raid which he said was against “the letter and spirit” of the deal.

“Let the Cabinet post-13 General Election declare that it fully endorses unconditionally and unequivocally the 10-Point Solution adopted by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in April 2011,” said the Gelang Patah MP.

When commenting on Umno Selangor’s original plans to protest outside churches in the state yesterday, Muhyiddin said last Thursday that it was acting in accordance with the Selangor Sultan’s royal decree banning the word “Allah” to non-Muslims, adding that religious affairs are under the Sultan’s purview despite acknowledging the existence of the Federal Constitution.

Muhyiddin was asked if Umno Selangor should call off the protest at churches in the country’s most developed state, for the sake of preserving interfaith ties, after it threatened on January 1 to do so unless senior Catholic priest Father Lawrence Andrew apologised over his remark insisting on Christians’ right to use the Arabic word in their religious practices.

But a day before the planned protests, Noh Omar called it off, saying that Selangor Umno did not support rallies in front of places of worship as they were only dissatisfied with Andrew.

Jais’ Thursday raid followed its announcement two weeks ago that it planned to issue letters telling all churches in the state to cease using “Allah” in their worship, as part of a 1988 state law and royal decree limiting its use to Islam.

The Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, passed by the then Barisan Nasional state government, prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faith, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya’Allah” (God willing).

Lawyers have since cast doubt on the validity and constitutionality of the 1988 state enactment, which not only imposes the statewide ban, but was also used to arrest and probe two BSM officials during the raid.

BSM said it had complied with the conditions in the 10-point solution, adding that its customers are not just the churches in Sabah and Sarawak, but included Sabahan and Sarawakian Christians, Orang Asli churches and other Malay-speaking Christians in the peninsula.

Christians make up about 10 per cent of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million. Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.

The ongoing legal dispute between the government and the Catholic Church over its right to print the word “Allah” in the Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia section is still pending before the Federal Court, which is set to hear arguments from both sides on February 24 before deciding on whether it will hear an appeal by the Catholic Church.