YAB Perdana Menteri, As we approach Malaysia Day this year, we see dark clouds gathering over the Land Below the Wind. Our right to our cherished freedom of religion is being threatened once again. We appeal to you to act immediately to curb yet another attempt to introduce more Shariah laws, one of which is aimed at curbing the rights of non-Muslim religions. This is unacceptable as it strikes at the very core of freedom of religion for all as enshrined in our Federal Constitution. The proposed laws were not even discussed in your cabinet and your coalition partners have indicated that they too object to this move. In your first speech as PM recently, you called for a common ground to build a Keluarga Malaysia that cuts across religious, racial and ethnic boundaries. We commend you for that. Yet within days, a junior deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), YB Ustaz Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, was quoted by Harakah, the mouth piece of PAS, that the four new Shariah laws are being drafted by your government, including a bill on control and restrictions on the development of non-Muslim religions. Ustaz Ahmad has not withdrawn his announcement neither have you taken him to task for his audacity to try to undermine your Keluarga Malaysia proposal as well as the Constitution as supreme law of the nation. YAB Perdana Menteri, we urge you to consider that the move by your deputy minister may even be unconstitutional as Islam comes under the jurisdiction of the respective Sultans and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and not under the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs). The proposed new Shariah laws are unpopular. Sabah is against any proposal that will restrict the freedom of religion of its people, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor was quoted as saying on 9 Sept He said that the state government holds firmly to the principle of religious freedom as declared in the Federal Constitution and the Malaysian Agreement 1963. We commend our Chief Minister for his stand: “Sabah is a state with people of many cultures and religions who have lived in peace and harmony all this while. Even with so many differing beliefs, we respect each other’s culture without problem.” Other Sabah-based parties have all rejected the concept of such a Bill that they said is unconstitutional. The MCCBCHST interfaith group also reminded the deputy minister that the basic structure of the Constitution does not allow for a Theocratic Islamic State for Malaysia. Likewise, the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) has reiterated the stance of YAB Chief Minister of Sarawak, and those of the Sarawak political leaders who have consistently rejected any introduction of laws which would undermine or destroy the harmony among races and communities in Sarawak and Malaysia. It is often said that those who forget their history forfeit their destiny. Let us remember that Sabah together with Sarawak only agreed to the formation of Malaysia in 1963 as equal partners to Malaya only […]
3年前
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