Raise ‘korban’ objection to Council of Rulers, Perkasa tells Kamalanathan

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan should raise his objections on the slaughter of cattle in schools for Hari Raya Aidiladha with the Council of Rulers if he feels so strongly against it, Perkasa said today.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali said the deputy minister was making too much of an issue out of a long-practised tradition of Muslims sacrificing cattle to share the meat within the community as part of their religious duty.

“Korban is the religious duty of Muslims,” he said, referring to the Malay term for the ritual, which was adapted from the Arabic word Qurban meaning sacrifice.

“If a school has a lot of Muslims among the students and the teachers, and there is no place to carry out the slaughter, what is wrong in using the school?” Ibrahim said.

Perkasa had earlier warned Kamalanathan that it will campaign against him in the next general election if he did not retract his statement on the ban of ritual slaughter of cattle in schools.

The Malay rights group’s youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris was reported to have said the ban was insulting as the practice is related to a holy Muslim festival.

Earlier this week, Kamalanathan confirmed that schools have never been permitted to host ritual slaughter of animals, adding that the incidents in several schools happened without the knowledge of the district education departments.

Ibrahim today said it is not good for Kamalanathan and his party, MIC, to harp on about the sensitivities of Muslims as it would have a bad effect on national harmony.

He said such strong reactions against the practice is an affront to the culture of Malay Muslims in the country, and should not be subject to politicians playing up sentiments just for political mileage.

“If the Indians feel that their faith should not be touched, then they too should not touch on the sensitivities of Islam.

“It would be better for Kamalanathan to present his views to the Council of Rulers, since they are the heads of Islam in the country, and let them come to a decision,” Ibrahim said.

It was reported that students in several schools in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur had witnessed the ritual slaughter of cattle in their school compounds in conjunction with the Aidiladha celebration last week.

The incidents drew flak from various quarters, who said that the practice should not be carried out at schools as it would hurt the sensitivities of the children, especially Hindus who consider the cow as a sacred animal.