‘Allah ruling could hurt Barisan at next election’

KUALA LUMPUR — The Court of Appeal’s ruling that the Catholic weekly Herald cannot use the word Allah could seriously dent the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) chances of retaining power in the next general election, warned its component parties.

Already suffering from a backlash from non-Malay voters since the 2008 general election that saw BN losing their two-thirds majority in the 222-seat parliament over racial and religious issues, the component parties cautioned that this court decision might just tip the scales against the coalition at the next polls.

There are 2.8 million Christians in Malaysia, most of whom are in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, which have generally been regarded as a “fixed deposit” for the ruling coalition. BN took 47 of the 56 federal seats in Sabah and Sarawak, contributing one-third of the 133 federal seats it won in GE13.

MIC Youth chief T Mohan said although Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country, the feelings of non-Muslims have to be taken into consideration as well.

“We must find a way to solve this problem. If BN does not respect other religions and feels this is nothing, then they will have to face the music come the next general election.”

Gerakan President Datuk Chang Ko Youn said Putrajaya has to confront the issue and make a decisive stand soon as failure to do so will have political repercussions on the coalition.

“It is not a legal issue, it is a political one,” he said, adding that the matter should have been settled decisively years ago.

He appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to call for a BN meeting and get religious experts to brief the supreme council so that a political decision can be made on how to resolve the matter quickly.

“If Putrajaya just sits on this, it might distance the Christian community from BN. They might feel their rights have been trampled on,” he said.

MCA Vice-President Gan Ping Sieu said BN needs to take an unequivocal stand that inclusiveness and the 10-point agreement of April 2011 is the way forward and that national reconciliation is paramount.

The agreement as made by the Federal Cabinet prior to the Sarawak state elections in 2011, allowed the printing, import and distribution of the Malay language bible Al-Kitab that contains the word Allah.

“BN, as an inclusive political coalition, must address the issue and reach a rational consensus for the sake of national interest,” he said.

He said the Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak had been using the word Allah as part of their worship for generations and the Court decision is tantamount to criminalising a long accepted practice.

“I fail to comprehend the rationale of the ban. Have we experienced lack of security and public disorder all these while when the word was used by non-Muslim? Or are we acting in accordance with the insecurity of some overzealous characters?”

On Monday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the word Allah was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice and that such usage if allowed, will inevitably cause confusion within the community.

UMNO lawmakers have stood behind the Court of Appeal’s decision, saying the judgment was in line with the party’s struggle in defending the pride of Islam.

Mr Bung Mokhtar Radin, MP for Kinabatangan in east Sabah, said: “Whatever allegations thrown at UMNO, this is our struggle. I wish to congratulate the UMNO leaders for defending the pride of Islam.”

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER