Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng And MP For Bagan In Kuala Lumpur On 17.10.2013.
BN Is Destroying Religious Harmony In Malaysia By Irresponsibly And Deviously Exploiting Islam For Selfish Political Gain By Allowing The Word ‘Allah’ To Be Used By Christians In Sabah And Sarawak In Their Worship, Including In The Malay-Language Bible Al-Kitab, But Not In Peninsular Malaysia.
BN is destroying religious harmony in Malaysia by irresponsibly and deviously exploiting islam for selfish political gain by allowing the word ‘Allah’ to be used by Christians in Sabah and Sarawak in their worship, including in the Malay-language bible Al-Kitab, but not in Peninsular Malaysia. This is the only conclusion to be made from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Kurup surprising announcement as reported by Sin Chew Daily today on the cabinet decision yesterday.
Joseph Kurup said the cabinet decided to fall back on the 10-point solution because this issue has created much dissatisfaction and worry among Sabah and Sarawak Christians. The 10-point solution allows for the importation into and printing of Bibles of any language in Malaysia including al-Kitab which uses the word ‘Allah’. The question arises then is what about Sabahans and Sarawakians working in Peninsular Malaysia – are they permitted or banned from using “Allah” in Kuala Lumpur or Johor Baru?
Clearly this Cabinet decision shows that the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic publication, “The Herald” is not based on protecting the sanctity of Islam. Instead the proposed ban on the word “Allah” is a naked attempt to openly and directly infringe on the rights of non-Muslim of freedom of religion so that UMNO can score political points with Muslims and Malays.
By permitting Allah to be used in Sabah and Sarawak, this is clear defensive electoral strategy designed to protect BN’s political interests there as there are fewer Malays and Muslims in both states. BN is not bothered about religious harmony or religious values. If they are concerned about religious values they would have taken steps to combat and punish corruption. Instead corruption in Malaysia has deteriorated to such a level that Malaysia is declared as a world champion of corruption.
Many international Muslim commentators have also condemned the ban of the use of the word “Allah” for Christians or non-Muslims. Indonesian daily Jakarta Post said there is no monopoly on the use of the word “Allah” and the Emirati newspaper The National from the Middle-East published an editorial condemning the Court of Appeal decision as “wrong”, arguing that ‘Allah’ is freely used by non-Muslims in the Arab world.
LIM GUAN ENG
-Chinese Version-
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年10月17日在吉隆坡发表的声明：
国阵为了自私的政治利益，不负责任及迂回利用伊斯兰教，允许东马沙巴及砂拉越州基督教徒在礼拜时使用“阿拉”字眼，包括马来文版的圣经，可是却禁止马来西亚半岛的基督教徒使用“阿拉”字眼，这根本是在摧毁马来西亚的宗教和谐。
国阵为了自私的政治利益，不负责任及迂回利用伊斯兰教，允许东马沙巴及砂拉越州基督教徒在礼拜时使用“阿拉”字眼，包括马来文版的圣经，可是却禁止马来西亚半岛的基督教徒使用“阿拉”字眼，这根本是在摧毁马来西亚的宗教和谐。根据《星洲日报》报导，这是首相署部长丹斯里佐瑟古律就昨日内阁的决定，所作出的惊人总结。
佐瑟古律指出，内阁决定回到早前做出的10点方案，是因为此课题经已在东马沙巴及砂拉越州基督教徒间，引起极大的不满。这10点方案，包括允许马来西亚各语言印刷或进口的圣经（包括马来文版圣经），在刊物中使用“阿拉”字眼。现在的疑问是： 那些在马来西亚半岛工作的沙巴人及砂拉越人怎么样？他们是否被允许还是被禁止在吉隆坡或新山使用“阿拉”字眼？
内阁是次的决定显示，内政部禁止罗马天主教会周报《先锋报》在该刊物中禁用“阿拉”字眼，并不是基于要保护伊斯兰教的神圣。反之，禁止使用“阿拉”字眼的建议，是一项赤裸裸的尝试，公开和直接地侵犯非穆斯林的宗教自由权利，以让巫统可以从穆斯林和马来人群体中，捞取政治利益。
允许沙巴及砂拉越州基督教徒使用“阿拉”字眼，很明显的是选举的防守策略，旨在保护国阵在当地的政治利益，因为这两个州属的马来人和穆斯林人数比较少。国阵根本不理会什么宗教和谐或宗教价值观。若他们真的关心宗教价值观，他们必定会采取行动肃贪。 相反的，马来西亚的贪污腐败已经恶化到这样的水平，甚至被冠上“贪污腐败的世界冠军。
许多国际穆斯林时评员也谴责禁止非穆斯林或基督教徒使用“阿拉”字眼的禁令。印尼的《雅加达时报》称，“阿拉”字眼的使用并没有所谓的垄断权。而中东阿联酋的报纸《The National》刊登了一篇社论，谴责上诉庭的决定是“错误”的，并认为，在阿拉伯世界，“阿拉”字眼是可以自由地让非穆斯林使用。
林冠英