KUCHING, Sept 21: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing today questions DAP’s rationale for its continuing criticism of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) as part of Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government.
“When Pakatan Harapan (PH) held power after 14th general election (GE14), DAP had no second thought in teaming with Mat Sabu’s Amanah. Does it mean DAP wants Islamic beliefs to be introduced to Sarawak? I hope not, nor is GPS working relationship with PN and PAS viewed as such.
“We must understand that “respecting other people’s beliefs is not tantamount to accepting their religion”. It is wise for DAP or critics of GPS to understand the difference between respect and acceptance of other people’s religion,” Masing said in a statement issued here today.
Masing was responding to GPS critics, especially DAP, who have accused GPS of “sleeping on the same bed” with PAS in the PN federal government.
In 2011, Koh who was executive director of community group Harapan Komuniti ran into issues with the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) when he organised a multi-racial charity event attended by Muslims and non Muslims at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church here.
The event was disrupted when Jais accompanied by police raided the church following claims that the organising group had held the gathering in an attempt to allegedly entice Muslims to convert to Christianity.
“It was raided by 15 Jais personnel and 20 policemen without a search warrant. They accused HK of proselytizing among Muslims. This was later found to be not true. It hit the headlines in the papers,” said Masing, referring to news reports.
It was also reported after the incident that, then Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri later apologized to HK. It was later followed by then PAS Deputy President Mat Sabu who also clarified and apologized for the error.
“What I’m trying to point out here is that Mat Sabu was PAS man, who later split to form Amanah. But he is still very much a PAS man and holds a very firm Islamic ideology and very much a Muslim believer,” added Masing.-DayakDaily
