The Sarawak Ministers’ Fellowship has demanded the immediate release of 30,000 copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) that are being held by the Home Ministry in Kuching.

“The detention of NONE this batch since last January is a blunt violation and an unconstitutional curtailment of the religious liberty of Christians in Sarawak,” chairperson Daron Tan (seated in centre) told a press conference in Kuching yesterday.

The copies are now stored at the Home Ministry’s office on Jalan Satok. Ministry officials had stopped the consignee from taking out the copies of the Bible from Kuching Port as the edition contains the word ‘Allah’.

The Ministers’ Fellowship consists of the Kuching Ministers Fellowship, Miri Pastors Fellowship, Sibu Pastors Fellowship, Bintulu Pastors Fellowship and Gempuru Besai Raban Jaku Iban Malaysia, which is an alliance of Iban churches.

Tan said the detention of the Bible was not the only difficulty the churches have with the government over the freedom of religion. They have repeatedly encountered restrictions to this constitutional guarantee.

Article 8 of the Federal Constitution states that ‘all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law’ and ‘there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the grounds of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law’, said Tan.

He also noted that Article 11 provides for the right of every person to profess a religion of his or her choice.

“Furthermore, under the 18-point Agreement for Sarawak in the formation of Malaysia, it is clearly stated that there is no official religion for (the state),” he said.

“Therefore, the detention of the Bible is not only unconstitutional but it also violates the spirit of the Malaysian Agreement for Sarawak to participate in the formation of Malaysia.”

Tan said the church was deeply disappointed and felt a strong protest had to be registered on the way these continuous problems have impeded Christian in practising their faith.

He called on the government to diligently uphold the rights of the Christian community in Sarawak as enshrined in the constitution.

‘Equal partner’

Tan said this was the second time that copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia were seized in Sarawak. At the end of last year, 10,000 copies were seized by the Home Ministry, but were  released after Christian leaders protested.

In the latest incident, the consignee paid US$26,400 (RM80,479) as printing costs and shipping charges to send the Bible to Sarawak from Jakarta.

Tan reminded the Home Ministry that it would be answerable for creating religious tension in the country by continuing to hold the Bible.

NONE “The sooner the consignment is released, the better it is for the country,” he said, holding fast to the position that any ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ is not applicable to Sarawak.

“The ministry must remember that Sarawak is a region, not one of the states in Malaysia. We did not form Malaysia as a state, but as one of the four regions (including) Malaya, Singapore and Sabah.

"Therefore, Sarawak is not subservient to Malaya, but an equal partner in the federation.”

Tan also wants a stop to any further seizure of the  Bible in Bahasa Malaysia brought into Sarawak, where Christians make up 43 percent of the population of 2.6 million.

The Sarawak Ministers’ Fellowship also asked to be represented in any dialogue with the federal government on issues involving religion. Thus far, he added, it has not been invited to any dialogue called by the government.