The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) pledge of support for Barisan Nasional in the upcoming general elections issued by council secretary-general R.Thiagaraja yesterday was made without consultation with the rest of council and has been refuted by committee members.

MCCBCHS vice-president Bishop Dr. Lim Cheng Ean and committee member Bishop Anthony Selvanayagam issued a statement this morning refuting the council's pledge of unanimous support for Barisan Nasional.

"There has been no agreement among the religious groups represented in the MCCBCHS to endorse any political party or coalition in the forthcoming elections," the statement said.

MCCBCHS secretary-general R. Thiaraja was reported yesterday as having pledged support for BN at the upcoming general election after "careful consideration of the recent political developments in Malaysia".

Meanwhile, a leader of the Malaysian Buddhism Association, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that the council statement issued by Thiagaraja was done without an official consensus from the committee. As a member of the council, he said he had no prior knowledge of the matter and has received numerous complaints from members expressing their resentment at such a pledge.

"Religious groups should remain independent and not take sides," the religious leader maintained.

However, MCCBCHS president, A.Vaithiligam, who is also president of the Malaysian Hindu Sangam told malaysiakini that support of BN was based on fear of the hudud law. "If one of the (members of the) Opposition coalition is a party which upholds the hudud law, we have to be careful," he said, adding that the stand was taken without any pressure from BN.

Vaithiligam conceded that the pledge was made without consensus from the other committee members but said that a council meeting will be convened to resolve the issue.

On whether the council had expressed support for other political parties previously, Vaithiligam said that he was not aware of it as he had only become its president this year. When asked to comment if the BN support pledge would affect voters, he said, "I do not know. Everyone is free to vote (whoever they please)."

MCCBCHS was formed in 1983 after the four major religious groups banded together to campaign against the BN government's policy of restricting places of worship which they felt was undermining the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.

The council has also recently opposed the decision of the BN government to include the religious status of Malaysians in their identity cards as well as the directive from the Home Ministry to subject all building plans for non-Muslim places of worship to approval by state Islamic councils.