KOTA KINABALU, April 10 — Christians in Sabah are calling for the state government to defend its natives’ rights for religious freedom and protest the possible implementation of hudud in Kelantan.

The Pastor’s Fellowship of Kota Kinabalu said that the Sabah government, as an original party to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia as well as a trustee of the Malaysia Agreement 1963, has a moral and legal duty to defend the state against any attempts to disregard the basis of the agreement.

“It is high time our state government stand up to defend the sacred covenants (of the Malaysia Agreement 1963), even if the federal government of Malaysia might, thus far, seem slow in doing so,” said the group in a statement here today.

Signed by its three leaders — Pastors Cornelius Henry, Steven Choon and Daniel Chin — the group echoed Sabah Council of Churches president Reverend Datuk Jerry Dusing who recently said that historical documents and declarations showed that Malaysia was intended to be founded as a secular country, when he voiced concern at plans to implement the religious-based criminal law.

The group said that Sabahans have withstood many challenges to their faith in Malaysia and called on all Malaysians to honour the aspirations of their founding fathers from 1963 and contained in the Malaysia Agreement, despite changing circumstances.

“It saddens us that in recent years, our mutual bonds and trust have been repeatedly put to the test, and that certain quarters have begun to champion the idea of breaking up the Federation of Malaysia,” the group said, referring to the alleged secessionist movement Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia.

“Although we still firmly believe that secession is not the answer, at the same time, we must also acknowledge that such sentiments have arisen out of decades of deep disappointment, and even resentment,” they said.

The statement said that although the positions of Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak were given special constitutional recognition, it was never intended for any form of racial supremacy.

“Likewise, the fact that Islam has been recognised as the official religion in the Federation of Malaysia, is also not meant to relegate all other religions to an inferior position, nor to alter the social fabric of the country,” they said, citing documents such as the White Paper on the Constitutional Proposal for the Federation of Malaya (Legislative Council Paper No. 41 of 1957).

They said that the so-called “social contract”, or the sacred covenant made between the founding forefathers, was among the federal and state governments, and Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

“As a matter of fact, freedom of religion was so prominent in the mind of our forefathers, that it was made the very first point of the 20-point Agreement advocated by the leaders of Sabah. This solemn promise has even been enshrined in the famous Batu Sumpah of Keningau, Sabah, where it says ‘Ugama Bebas Dalam Sabah’.

“Therefore, any attempts to promote the implementation of policies and laws that would in effect make Malaysia less secular, clearly go against the assurance and guarantee of freedom of religion to the people of Sabah and Sarawak. “

Last month, the Kelantan state assembly passed the amendments to its state Shariah Criminal Code, with support from both PAS and Umno lawmakers.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang submitted two private member’s Bills on the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code, which were discussed in Parliament in the recent sitting, but have since been deferred to the next session in May.

The Bills seek to remove legal roadblocks to the enforcement of the controversial Islamic penal code that punishes apostasy with the death penalty and theft with the amputation of limbs.