KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — The Najib administration should reaffirm its 10-point deal on bibles in its first Cabinet meeting next week, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang has said as the Christian community continues to remain in shock over a raid which they view as a trampling of their constitutional right to religious freedom.
Lamenting the state of governance in the country, Lim noted that the new year was kicked off with an “illegal and unconstitutional” raid and seizure of bibles in Malay and Bahasa Iban by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) on Thursday.
“The country has been moving in the wrong direction all these years under the Najib premiership, with this year the worst of all.
“It is for this reason that I call on Najib to ask the first Cabinet meeting of the year next Wednesday to endorse the 10-Point Solution as well as for a Summit of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders on National Reconciliation to rebuild National Unity,” the DAP parliamentary leader said in a statement today.
Lim was referring to the Cabinet’s 2011 decision, which allowed the Christian community to print, import and distribute bibles in the Malay and indigenous language containing the word “Allah”.
Following Thursday’s seizure of hundreds of copies of bibles, the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) likened Jais’s raid to “treason”, adding that it “violates the Federal Constitution and pays total disregard to” the 10-point solution.
Today, Lim reiterated his call on Friday for a bipartisan dialogue to build unity.
“This is the time for all Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders to rise above political differences and work in unison to rebuild national unity through a national reconciliation blueprint,” the Gelang Patah said.
MORE TO COME
