KUCHING, March 11: Dayak Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders should ‘react strongly’ to the decision of UMNO and PAS in pushing for the High Court’s ruling on allowing the use of Islamic words by non-Muslims in publications be referred to the Court of Appeal.
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) president Bobby William who expressed grave concerns on the decision of the opposition alliance Muafakat Nasional (MN), thus questioned as to why was the Dayak GPS leaders are strangely quiet about this.
“As partners in PN (Perikatan Nasional) together with UMNO and PAS, Dayak GPS leaders should come out with a strong statement against UMNO and PAS’ decision.
“Dayak GPS leaders should show their displeasure and concern to the actions of their PN partners in this matter if they really have the sincerity to speak and defend the rights of the Dayak whom they claim to represent,” he said in a statement today.
Bobby was commenting about the MN Consultative Committee today urging that the High Court’s ruling on the use of the Islamic words be referred to the Court of Appeal.
The High Court yesterday (March 10) ruled that Christians nationwide can use the word “Allah” and three other Arabic words of “Baitullah”, “Kaabah” and “solat” in their religious publications for educational purposes.
PBDS stressed that such a decision by the MN partners was counter productive to race and religious relations as the issue had dragged on for so long.
“The prohibition by the court in 1986 to use words such as ‘Allah’, ‘Baituallah’, ‘solat’ and ‘Kaabah’ by non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional,” he believed.
On whether the decision to allow the use of word “Allah” showed true democracy for Christians in Malaysia as some even said that it was a landmark verdict especially for Christians in Sarawak and Sabah, Bobby viewed that the verdict might be short-lived now that UMNO and PAS have urged for the appeal of the court decision.
He noted that Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing had stated that the verdict showed that Malaysia indeed subscribed to freedom of religion and that the word “Allah” preceded Islam and the term “Allah” was not the sole custodian of those professing Islamic faith.
“If such an appeal were to happen, will the Sarawak government stand up for the rights of Sarawakians christians?
“Since our Dayak ministers are generally Christian, will they speak up for the Dayak and also the rest of the non-Dayak Christians in Sarawak if truly as what Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing says that Malaysia indeed subscribed to freedom of religion and the word “Allah” is not the sole custodian to those profess Islamic faith,” he questioned .— DayakDaily
