KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — The Kedah-based religious policing group Skuad Badar is not an illegal group and plans to comply with the law, its president Azhar Mohamad has said amid a police warning to the group.
Azhar reportedly said Skuad Badar — which is known for nabbing Muslim couples suspected of close proximity before giving them counselling in a cemetery — has a “duty to prevent immorality but we will abide by the laws of the country”.
“We do not intend to break the laws.
“It is wrong for the police to call us an illegal society,” he was quoted saying by local daily The Star.
Azhar said he had made a Facebook announcement of his plans to register Skuad Badar with the Registrar of Societies, due to alleged demands from Muslim parents in the Sungai Petani area in Kedah where he stayed as their teenage children were purportedly being “openly promiscuous and even frequenting the budget hotels in the town for immoral activities”.
According to The Star, Azhar alleged to have support from police personnel and religious authorities who indicated that his moral policing group’s activities were complementary to their work, also claiming that the authorities lack the resources to tackle the immoral activities.
“We are not arresting the couples but we are merely guiding and advising them from committing sins,” he said, acknowledging that Skuad Badar had nabbed some couples prior to this January.
Azhar said he had only brought the couples committing khalwat or being in close proximity to the mosque, and that they were only brought to the cemetery for counselling by Skuad Badar members if the couple’s parents agreed.
He claimed that Muslims were fearful of committing sin when his Skuad Badar group was active, noting however that Skuad Badar has stopped all its activities as ordered by the authorities after his arrest in January.
Azhar said he is now reconsidering his initial plan to register Skuad Badar.
“We do not force or drag anyone. Our good intentions, with the unnecessary limelight, have been misconstrued and I am now having second thoughts (of registering Badar squad with RoS),” he was quoted saying by The Star.
On July 4, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Mazlan Mansor commented on Azhar’s intention to reactivate Skuad Badar and expand their activities nationwide to tackle vice among Muslims.
“PDRM wishes to advise that group to not act in any ways contravening the law as they are not a valid religious enforcement body, and has no power to carry out any form of enforcement action.
“It should be stressed that any group not registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) is considered an illegal organisation, and the relevant action will be taken against them,” Mazlan said in a statement.
Former military man Azhar and six other members of his group were brought to court in February, and charged with being part of an illegal organisation.
