Selangor must act to end standoff in bible row, says Christian group

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — A prominent Christian group today demanded that Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim take leadership in the fiasco surrounding the seizure of 300 Malay and Iban language bibles and compel the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) to return the holy books.

The Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) said Khalid’s announcement yesterday not to interfere in the matter between Jais and the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) only serves to confuse the public, at a time when religious tensions are at an all-time high over the use of the word “Allah”.

“The CCM is totally disappointed. The Christian community is deeply hurt by the stand that the Selangor state exco (executive council) has taken,” the council’s general secretary Rev Hermen Shastri told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Hermen said it was ridiculous for Khalid to suggest that BSM write to Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to recover the bibles confiscated by Jais in a January 2 raid.

He pointed out that the attorney-general had challenged the High Court’s ruling that a Catholic weekly, Herald, had the right to publish “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its newspaper.

Hermen also said the Selangor government’s attitude added to the country’s increasingly fragile ties between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities that had been mitigated somewhat by the federal government’s 10-Point solution that conceded Bumiputera Christians have the right to use “Allah”.

“What the Selangor government has done has just confused the matter and made it even more difficult for Christians to think that there is any difference between the Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional administrations,” he said.

Hermen reiterated CCM’s position that no Islamic authority, Jais included, has the right to confiscate the religious book of non-Muslims.

He further accused the state government of sidestepping its responsibility and sending the message that the thousands of Malay- and indigenous-speaking Christians in Selangor can no longer worship as they have done all this while.

“The Selangor government must come out forthrightly to ensure the bibles are returned with immediate effect, especially in this holy season of Lent.

“Because in Selangor, there are many Christians from Sabah and Sarawak who live, work and study here... so does it mean they cannot use their own bibles in their worship? That is where the Selangor government must come out forthrightly,” he stressed.

Outspoken economist, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, also chided Khalid for being unfair and bereft of empathy for the Christian residents of Selangor.

Speaking as a “Christian layman”, Ramon said the mentri besar’s statement that BSM needed to show their “determination and desire” to reclaim the bibles was uncalled for as the seizure was unjustified in the first place.

“It shows a lack of understanding, a lack of empathy and inconsideration for the feelings of Christians, and that is not what a good leader should show. He has to help us to get the bibles, rather than ask us to show our determination.

“And unless he shows more empathy and concern and understanding for the citizens involved, they may feel so disappointed that they may not want to support leaders who do not care for their voters,” he said.

Yesterday, Khalid told a press conference that the state government has decided not to interfere with the ongoing controversy, and that BSM would have to officially write to the Attorney-General if it wants the holy books returned.

He said the state executive council decided that the onus falls entirely on BSM to “show their determination and desire” to recover the bibles confiscated by Jais over the use of the Arabic word for God, “Allah” in the translations.

The Pakatan Rakyat-led state administration has since come under fire from religious groups and lawyers, with the BSM demanding that the Selangor government solve the issue and not pass the buck to its federal counterpart.

Lawyers noted that the matter will ultimately come back to hound the state government, as Jais used a state enactment as the basis for its raid on BSM’s premises and does not come under federal jurisdiction.

Khalid was also criticised by PR colleague, DAP’s Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, who reminded the mentri besar that the decision went against PR’s 2013 election pledge to govern the state “inclusively, fairly and justly”.