Are you threatening me, Guan Eng asks Pekida
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today questioned if NGO Pekida's "action plan" on his remarks about the usage of the term ‘Allah’ among non-Muslims was a threat.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today questioned if NGO Pekida's "action plan" on his remarks about the usage of the term ‘Allah’ among non-Muslims was a threat.
"Coming from this rather colourful organisation, is this action plan a threat? One wonders," he told Malaysiakini .
The Malaysian Islamic and Welfare Association (Pekida) earlier said that it has an "action plan" on Lim's remark that non-Muslims in Penang can use the word 'Allah'.
The existence of the action plan came to light through a press advisory Pekida distributed at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters this morning, shortly after it joined a group of other Muslims NGOs in lodging a police report against business radio station BFM.
Pekida will lodge a police report on Lim's remarks on Dec 23, also at Dang Wangi, before unveiling this "action plan" at a press conference later.
Lim said that while it is the "democratic right" for anyone to lodge a police report, it must be done "peacefully."
Instead, he said, organisations such as Pekida should be training their guns on MCA as the latter had asked the Penang state government to repeal provisions that ban non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’.
He added that the state will not repeal Section 5 of the Syariah Crime Enactment for Penang, or any other enactments, as they are not binding on non-Muslims.
"Even the Administration of the Religion of Islam(State of Penang) Enactment 2004 bears me out where Section 49(1) of the Enactment states that a fatwa shall be binding on every Muslim in the state…, without mentioning non-Muslims, clearly restricting its application on Muslims," he said.
"Umno should be condemning and lodging police reports against MCA for demanding that the Administration of the Religion of Islam(State of Penang) Enactment 2004 be repealed.
"This is gross interference and an insult into the affairs of Islam by MCA because to repeal the Enactment is to also abolish the Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Pulau Pinang," he added.
Earlier, Pekida information chief Syahrir Abdul Aziz described the chief minister’s remarks as "disrespectful".
Pekida president Jamaludin Yusof will hold the press conference after the report is lodged on Dec 23.
Pekida is an NGO with close links to Umno. Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is its patron.
Pekida has long been linked to gangsterism, but the organisation has denied these claims.
The gangsterism activities were attributed to splinter groups carrying similar names.


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