KUCHING, Sept 10: Shariah laws, including those that are current, impending or being planned or drafted should not be applicable to non-Muslims in the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah.
“If you are to draft, amend, enforce any shariah laws, don’t forget to put a ‘Non-Applicable’ clause which means that the law is not meant for non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah,” said Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth chief Datuk Snowdan Lawan.
He said this in response to Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary’s statement that the Federal government plans to draft four new shariah laws which include the Control and Restriction on the Propogation of Non-Muslims Religious Bill.
According to Snowdan, such a statement was not welcome at all in a multi-religions, multi-racial and multi-lingual society like Malaysia, especially Sarawak, where it has close to 30 ethnicities.
“There is no understanding at all (when drafting these laws) and it only creates uneasiness and anxiety amongst the plural society.
“You can draft, amend or impose any law you think best and applicable only to those of your similar faith.
“Do not do the same to others if it has effects, impact and are enforceable to other faiths more so to non-Muslims in Sarawak or anywhere they could probably be.
“It is simply not applicable to us,” he said in a statement today.
Snowdan, who is also the State Youth and Sports Assistant Minister, further said that Sarawakian non-Muslims wish to be immune from such laws.
“Just impose it upon your own faith only. Our Federal Constitution is clear on the freedom to practice our own religion and we shall not delve into it.
“We hope that no newly appointed Minister in charge of Religious Affairs comes up with this type of religious bigotry, especially if it is from the Prime Minister’s Department. It can be a root cause of differences,” he added. — DayakDaily
