To say that the ban of the Iban Bible is incredulous would be an understatement. It is also dumbfounding, completely unjustified, and entirely unjustifiable.

At the very o­nset, the excuse given by the authorities that the Iban Bible breaches the guidelines for non-Islamic publications begs a very pertinent and obvious question: How in the world then does the English Bible escape the same fate? Something that is non-Islamic must stem from its content, and not the language of its content. And the contents of the English Bible are the same as that of the Iban Bible. Frankly, I'm stumped.

Even though this decision does not hold water, nonetheless, we can say for sure that the effects of such a decision will be far-reaching. The fact is, the majority of Ibans are today Christians, which comes up to over half a million individuals. A ban o­n their bible would not curb proletarisation. It would be an outright act of persecution o­n the thousands upon thousands of Iban Christians by depriving them of their Holy Book in their own language.

Secondly, any fear that the Iban Bible would be accessible to our Malay friends, is also wholly unfounded. I stumbled upon a passage of the Gospel according to John, in Iban, of course:

Apin dunya nyadi, Jako endang udah bisi. Iya enggau Allah Taala, lalu iya endang Allah Taala. Kenyau ari mula kelia, Jako endang enggau Allah Taala. Ulih iya Allah Taala ngaga samoa utai; nadai siti utai ti udah digaga tau nyadi enti enda ulih iya.

I studied Bahasa Malaysia for 12 years. I have no idea what that passage just said. And even if they did understand it, and they did have access, would that be so wrong? John Milton said: "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties."

On an interesting note, the first complete Iban Bible was published in 1988. It should be added that Malaysia is governed by the statute of limitations, which prohibits certain actions from being brought in the civil courts after a lapse of a prescribed period. Six years is the average time limit. Here we're seeing a random exercise of mindless power after more than 12 years since the Iban Bible materialised.

Seeing we've run out of options here, I suppose we would have to resort to that all-encompassing plea of national security. How, pray tell? Taking a leaf from Adolf Hitler: "What luck for the rulers that men do not think." I'm sorry, but I have been giving some thought to this, and I'm genuinely alarmed.

Something as ambiguous and elusive as national security should be met concisely. "'Useful', and 'necessity' was always the tyrant's plea," said CS Lewis. And that's all I have to say about that.

Given our fair share of muggings, robberies and crimes o­n the rise, my o­nly conclusion is that criminal impunity isn't as damaging to your physical and mental security, as the Iban Bible is.

Wow! This book must pack quite a punch then. Again I must reiterate that what is quite bemusing, and quite frightening really, is the fact that the Iban Bible is not being banned for its content, but for the language of its content. I shudder to envision the possibility that my knowledge of English could result in similar persecution.

To provide a complete picture of the inconsistencies in the execution of policy and decision-making, allow me this final illustration. A few days ago in MPH, Subang Jaya, displayed prominently at the entrance, was this voluminous copy of Henry Ford's essays entitled The Complete International Jew published in Ford's own newspaper, The Dearborn Independent .

The series ran for 18 months and was blatantly anti-Semitic, and the veracity of the content dubious to say the least. The basis of his paranoia stemmed from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , what is now known to be a malicious forgery created by the Russian Czar's secret service at the turn of the century, of an alleged series of lectures by a Jewish elder outlining some falsified conspiracy. After three law suits brought by outraged Jews, and an out-of-court settlement, Ford was forced to publicly announce that "articles reflecting o­n the Jews" would never again appear in his newspaper.

Despite the Malaysian editor's attempts in this edition to convey an air of impartiality by urging the reader to come to his own conclusions, the overtones in the preface are obvious enough: "The International Jew and his Zionist movement have assumed gigantic proportions affecting the peace of the world and the future of our children".

By all means allow this publication. After all, freedom is the right to be wrong. But to allow this book, and yet ban the Iban Bible o­n the flimsiest of reasons, would be setting another dangerous precedent to an unjust abridgement of freedom. And since it is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at o­nce but rather gradually and silently, we must raise the bulwark now.

Give us back the Iban Bible. Please.

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." - Gospel of John, The Holy Bible .