The recent scathing attack on the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) and Global Ethics was brutal and uncalled for.Shahbudin Yahya of Penang Umno was merely using the Umno platform to seek his own popularity and glorification while at the same time putting Islam, a religion of peace, to shame in the eyes of the world.

Humanity must understand that all sane and sensible leaders, political or otherwise, have been working very hard for more than a century to create interfaith harmony amongst all religions.

Thus was born the Parliament of World Religions where religionists of all faiths, including Islamists, meet to discuss the similarities of religions for global peace and harmony. Malaysian Muslim leaders, too, have participated in such fora. In this regard, KAF has and has been doing a marvelous job the world over, including in Malaysia, for interfaith peace and harmony.

Shahbudin should have studied the matter in depth before blasting away at the Umno meet with statements that were totally seditious.

We have to understand that for every individual, belonging to a religion is the greatest and the most supreme gift. Nobody has right to question that or try to impose that some other religion is the greatest, the most supreme, the latest or whatever. Religion is and should always be a personal matter of the individual.

If the individual feels that one particular religion is the most supreme and wants to convert to it and practise it, then that it is his or her business. But there should not be any compulsion or coercion on him for conversion.

It is vital for interfaith dialogue to carry on in Malaysia as many religions are practised here. The prime minister must be steadfast in promoting interfaith harmony for a peaceful multi-racial, multi-religion Malaysia..