The government’s recent statement on the 10-point solution to the use of the word 'Allah' is hypocritical and is clearly made just to appease voters in the Sarawak state election, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng ( below ).

 

“If the BN federal government promises that it will respect the 10-point solution in that 'Allah' can still be used in church, why did they ban it in the Herald in the first place?

 

“Can the BN be trusted that the word 'Allah' is not permitted for use in a Catholic publication but still allowed to be used in a church?” he said in a statement today.

 

He argued that pro-Umno groups had been exploiting the ‘non-existent fear’ of Malay Muslims committing apostasy through conversion by Christian missionaries, to distract them from economic issues and put them under siege.

The government had issued a statement saying that it stands by its 10-point solution , which is a 2011 cabinet decision that allows the print and import of Bibles in indigenous languages, including Bahasa Malaysia and Iban, which use the word ‘Allah’.

The Sarawak state election was held later in the same year, and is due again by April 2016. It is the only state in Malaysia with a Christian majority.

The government also said that the Federal Court’s decision on Monday only applies to the Catholic newspaper the Herald , and urged the public to respect the decision.

Meanwhile, Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong ( right ) said the Federal Court’s refusal to grant leave for the Catholic Church to appeal against the ban on the Herald to use the word ‘Allah’ is a “missed opportunity” to clarify constitutional issues in the case.

Nevertheless, he lauded the government’s statement and said he is confident that there will be other opportunities to clarify the matter, although the litigation process of the Herald’s case has already reached its end.

“Until then we must continue to engage one another in dialogue so we understand each other better and respect and accept the differences that make us the great melting pot of Asia.

“Also, in matters such like this no one wins and no one loses but we must remain steadfast in defending the rights of all Malaysians to practice their religion in a way each religious group believes to be correct,” he said in a separate statement today.

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