KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — A Selangor executive councillor disputed today that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) said the church in the centre of a protest in Taman Medan was operating illegally, insisting that such permits are unnecessary in the state.
Elizabeth Wong, who is the co-chair on the Selangor state committee on non-Islamic affairs (HESI), said MBPJ councillors confirmed at a meeting today with the Community of Praise Petaling Jaya Church representatives, advisors to her state committee and several lawmakers that the previous state committee has been allowing churches to operate in commercial premises without permits since 2008, and that churches only need to notify the committee.
“This is based on the principle that Article 11 of the Federal Constitution embodies freedom of worship,” Wong said in a statement.
The spotlight fell on the Community of Praise Petaling Jaya Church after about 50 Malay-Muslim residents at Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, protested on Sunday against the church for putting up a cross on its facade, forcing the church to take down the Christian religious symbol.
The Star Online reported earlier today MBPJ public relations officer Zainun Zakaria as saying that the church does not have a permit to operate at the shoplot in Taman Medan as a place of worship, claiming it must apply for a permit to display a cross.
“There is no such policy put forward by the state committee HESI. A notification to HESI committee suffices. And if any local councils have any issues or questions, they are to refer back to the HESI committee,” said Wong.
“There are, however, existing guidelines on standalone non-Islamic buildings of worship which cover land applications, land conversions, buildings, demolitions and applications for funds,” she added.
Wong said the church informed the meeting today that the “violent” protest had intimidated churchgoers and had forced the pastor to bring down the cross “out of fear for the safety of the congregation”.
“As firmly expressed by the Mentri Besar YAB Azmin Ali yesterday, the state government finds the forcible removal of the cross to be abhorrent to Christians and to the fundamentals of freedom of worship enshrined in the Federal Constitution. In the meeting, we have advised the church to return the cross to its origin site to stop this precedent of mob rule by politically-aligned extremists,” said the Selangor executive councillor.
“At the same time, we call upon the Royal Malaysian Police to take this matter very seriously in order to ensure the safety of worshippers are protected at all times and there will be no repeats of such cases in Selangor,” she added.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said yesterday that the protestors had not violated any law by staging the demonstration.
He was later contradicted by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who said the protest is seditious and warrants a probe.
Khalid today said, however, that the police will investigate all reports on the incident.
