We refer to the Malaysiakini report The Herald loses permit amid 'Allah' row .

The home ministry must allow ‘The Herald’’s permit renewal. Repulsive and unreasonable permit retractions will be perceived as stifling religious freedom. The 2010 permit for the The Herald has not been approved although the said ministry had initially approved the publication’s permit renewal.

Such a move is repulsive and unreasonable. MCA strongly urges the home ministry to reconsider the retraction of The Herald’s printing permit. By denying The Herald’s permit renewal, the home ministry could be misconstrued as being punitive against the religious publication’s suit against the government on the usage restriction of the ‘Allah’ terminology.

The action by the authorities veers on stifling religious freedom in our country and this is unconstitutional and totally unacceptable. It is counter-productive against initiating trust between the religious bodies and the government.

As the government allows the publication of other religious-themed publications, for example ‘Al Islam’, MCA fails to understand the authority’s move to deny Christians their right to spiritual growth as ‘The Herald’, a religious publication, is clearly meant for Catholics to learn about their faith deeper.

Moreover, the home ministry has imposed the conditions that the word ‘Terhad’ (Limited Circulation) must be printed at the top right hand corner of the newsletter.

The seizure of Christian literature and Bibles by the authorities and disputes against judicial decisions involving conversions had all contributed towards the backlash against the Barisan Nasional government. The present move by the home ministry will further be perceived as stifling the rights of non-Muslims to profess their faiths and will not only repulse Christians, but all decent-minded Malaysians.

The ‘1Malaysia’ concept of mutual respect and inclusiveness should be upheld by all government departments. The home ministry should work towards engaging Christian bodies instead of acting to the contrary.

Apart from allowing ‘The Herald’ to continue its publication, MCA calls upon the home ministry to allow the application for the publication to have a section in the KadasanDusun language. There should be no barriers against printing the newsletter in the KadasanDusun language in line with Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

There should be no denying the rights of non-Muslims to read and practice matters regarding their faith in their own native language. As many indigenous Sabahans of KadasanDusun descent speak and raise their children in the KadasanDusun language, there is no valid ground to not have a KadasanDusun language section in ‘The Herald’/

Denying this is tantamount to denying Sabahans the right to religious communication between the church and its followers and to further deepen their spirituality in their native language.

The writer is Political Education Bureau chief, MCA.