The Kedah Muslim Scholars Association (PUK) has lodged a police report against the New Straits Times for publishing two articles o­n public religious schools or Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) which it claimed were seditious.

PUK alleged that the Jan 23 articles 'Hijacked by religious bigots' and 'Parting ways of closed minds' not o­nly contained false information but were also written in bad faith.

According to the association, the articles cast a negative light o­n these schools and its teachers.

PUK committee member Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman lodged the report o­n Feb 22 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan where he had attended a meeting.

The daily's editor-in-chief Abdullah Ahmad, group editor Ahmad A Talib, managing editor Rose Ismail and 12 journalists were named in the report.

When contacted today, Ahmad Tarmizi said the Brickfields district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur was handling the matter.

"I received a call from the Kota Bharu police station last week telling me that the matter had been referred to their Brickfields counterpart as NST is situated in that vicinity," he said.

A spokesperson from the Brickfields police station confirmed receipt of the report today and named the investigating officer as ASP Rosli Hassan. He said they have yet to begin investigations.

Create confusion

In the report - a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini - Ahmad Tarmizi alleged that the articles were published by the daily to create confusion among non-Muslims regarding the religious schools, its teachers and Islam itself.

The committee member of PUK's Sungai Petani branch claimed the articles made numerous false accusations against SAR teachers, such as their advising students not to use chopsticks because it was contrary to Islamic teachings.

The articles also said the teachers manipulated Islamic teachings to cause racial segregation.

Ahmad Tarmizi said the articles also accused teachers of praying for the failure of students who do not wear tudung (headscarf) or those who fail to cover their aurat (parts of the body that should not be exposed according to the Quran).

They were also said to have criticised students who do not wear the tudung.

"The articles give the public the impression that SAR teachers in general are narrow-minded, irrational and fanatics. These are all untrue as religious teachers generally strive to inculcate good behaviour among students.

"Problems of racial segregation, if any, are caused by certain parties who use racial sentiments to gain political support. It has nothing to do with the teaching of Islam in schools," he said in the report.

"The articles are based o­n lies and half-truth. We firmly believe that neither the publisher nor the journalists have made any attempt to verify the truth of the information before it was given to the public," he added.

Disunity and hatred

He urged the police to initiate investigations under the Sedition Act, the Penal Code and the Printing Presses and Publications Act as the articles could cause disunity and hatred among the different races.

NST senior editors were not available for comment.

Last October, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that the government would cease funding these schools because, he alleged, they were instiling in students anti-government sentiments.

Following this, the Education Ministry announced that SAR students would be absorbed into national schools by the end of this month.

Many government leaders have also joined the bandwagon to criticise these schools, which are mostly run by PAS.

However, SAR advocates said these allegations were baseless and urged the government to produce evidence.

They claimed the move was politically motivated and aimed at 'punishing' those who are unsupportive of Umno and Barisan Nasional.