I empathise with the organisers and participants to the freedom of religion forum in Penang . This issue is no longer a teething problem. It has reached the point where political will is required in ensuring and safeguarding the rights of religious minorities in the country.

I do, however, disagree with suggestions that protests should be banned and protestors arrested under our illegal assembly laws. The right to a peaceful assembly is a fundamental right as is freedom of religion.

People have a right to assemble peacefully. The police should have ensured that the protest not turn disruptive to the organisers rather than asking the forum to cut short its programme.

Protest, while useful in many ways as a form of expression or dissent, should however not replace dialogue. Those who protest the freedom of religion, a right enshrined in the Federal Constitution, are not prudent in not considering dialogue as an important facet in communicating their demands for discussion and negotiation.