It is sad that the authorities are attacking the core ethos of Malaysian society - religious freedom and undermining the country's constitution and social fabric. Someone please explain why we are moving in the opposite direction when the world is moving toward greater tolerance and religious freedom?

While the Iban Bible is not vital to most Christians, it is vital to the Ibans who have a right to God's word in their mother-tongue. The Bible, the world's most published and sold book found in part or whole in 2,287 dialects or languages (UBS World Report, March 2002) plays a very important role in Christianity. Even the communist Chinese government which controls religion in China allows the printing of thousands of bibles in Chinese every year. They know the good influence of sound religion.

The Bible is not a luxury item but a basic necessity to all Christians.

Instead of being herded into religious closets, Malaysians should be encouraged to learn about each other's religions so that they do not become victims of ignorance, hearsay and false teachings. What kind of K-economy will Malaysia have if it cannot live with a group of its own citizens using a harmless book in their own language?

If the government is serious about religious harmony it should encourage the free flow of information. It is by reading the Koran and the Hadith that I know what Islam teaches. It is by reading the Dharma that I know what Gautama Buddha taught. And it is by reading the Bible that we understand what Christianity is about.

Lack of knowledge is a dangerous thing where religions are concerned and I urge the authorities not to make wrong decisions based o­n wrong advice, blind prejudice or some negative and false perception of the reality.

What is in the Iban Bible that makes it so dangerous and crucial for the Home Ministry to ban it? Millions of people are now able to read the Koran, and I myself am able to read it because it is in English. The passing o­n of knowledge in a familiar language is vital to civilised societies and progress. It is a cruelty and insult, a great wrong, to deny a group of people the use of their own mother-tongue to communicate and especially for such an important normal activity as worship.

When authorities make decisions that contravene basic human rights and its own Constitution, even law-abiding Christians and others may challenge them o­n moral and legal grounds. Where the ban is concerned, it is obvious the government has been wrongly advised and its officers have overstepped the state's moral and legal authority.

It is an insult to the founding fathers of the country who were careful to guarantee the freedom of worship to the diverse religions, and its true spirit should include the use of their holy books in their native tongues or whatever language their followers choose.

All fair-minded Malaysians should exercise their democratic rights and appeal to the Home Ministry to reverse its unfair and unwise decision. It is o­ne thing to ban pornography but to ban good books is baffling, unnecessary and extremely counter-productive.