KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Schools and other learning centers like Mara junior science colleges (MRSM) should not be run like Islamic institutions or as venues to propagate Islam to non-Muslims, a Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) party said.
The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation's (Upko) religion and racial harmony bureau said such practices are in violation of the Federal Constitution, which grants every individual the right to religious freedom.
“Malaysia is only six years away from attaining a supposedly developed nation with high income status.
“However, there are serious issues, especially concerning freedom of religion, which we cannot but handle well, or we run the risk of being derailed from the main stream of nation building,” the bureau's co-chairman Sualim Gopog said in a statement.
Gopog cited as examples recent reports of the ban on non-Islamic activities at Mara colleges and last week's claim by one parent that his daughter from SMK Kinarut in Sabah had been forced to convert into Islam without his knowledge.
In the case of the MRSM ban, Gopog pointed out that the college's guidelines specifically state that the institution is open to all Bumiputera students and not merely those who practice Islam.
As such, he said, it would be intolerant of the school authorities to ban its non-Muslim Bumiputera students from practising their respective faiths.
“Many of our UPKO members, some of whom are Muslims, have expressed their unhappiness because the MRSM is being managed as an Islamic institution.
“It is not in line with the Federal Constitution. UPKO hopes changes are in order,” he added.
Yesterday, Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal told a press conference in Sarawak that Mara will withdraw and rewrite all rules and regulations that prohibit non-Muslim students from practising their religions freely in its Sabah and Sarawak colleges.
According to The Malaysian Insider, the federal minister said that there was no such government policy that allows for such restrictions as “they were not right”.
“If there is a rule, we will withdraw it,” he was quoted saying.
The minister had stepped into the fray following the uproar in Sarawak over the Mara college guidelines, which went viral on social media networks after it was uploaded by a parent on Facebook last week.
Among others, the ban stipulates that non-Muslim students are not allowed to exhibit symbols of religions other than Islam and are not allowed to bring non-halal food into the school premises.
“How can it be wrong for non-Muslim parents to bring home cooked food, which happens to be non-halal, for their children to consume privately in the MRSM?” Gopog asked.
On the case of the alleged conversion of a minor in SMK Kinarut, the politician pointed out that despite numerous reports of similar cases in the past, such forced conversions have continued to occur.
“We have been repeatedly informed that Muslim authorities go about the propagation of their faith in accordance with their standard operating procedures.
“And yet, again and again, we have parents who complaint, while some have to file police reports because their children suddenly became Muslims. I urge the authorities to ensure such irritating happenings do not recur,” he said.
Last Thursday, The Malay Mail Online reported that the authorities in Sabah are investigating the alleged “Islamisation” of a Christian student in SMK Kinarut by the school’s hostel warden.
It is believed that the school’s former hostel warden had incited the conversion of the student with the recital of the shahada, the Islamic declaration of belief, forcing her to embrace Islam despite being “underaged”.
Until today, the parents are still left in the dark as to whether their child’s conversion has been formalised.
