PAS women’s wing deputy chife Dr Siti Mariah Mahmoud’s opposition to the suspension of state censorship for locally produced movies was proof that the party takes a hardline stance towards entertainment and arts, said Wanita MCA.

In a statement today, Wanita MCA secretary-general Chew Lee Giok said Siti Mariah’s criticism against the move showed traits similar to Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime.

“Such practices of opposition against films, radio broadcasts are found in hardline theocratic regimes,” said Giok.

Giok, who is also a senator, warned that Siti’s call would“cause PAS-ruled states to be like Afghanistan under the Taliban regime”, where a once culture-rich nation regressed into primitiveness.

“Wanita MCA will not be surprised if Malaysia ever comes under PAS, Astro, cinemas, television programmes too will become a thing of the past,” said Chew.

In a posting on her blog, Siti Mariah, who is also the Kota Raja MP, had criticized the Home Ministry’s announcement last week to abolish state censorship for locally produced movies as “bringing more bad effects on society”.

On Dec 21, Home Ministry Secretary-General Mahmood Adam announced the suspension of state censorship for local movie producers.

The Film Censorship Board and the Film Censorship Control and Enforcement Department (Finas) would continue to play advisory roles.

The movie producers were now responsible for the screening and censoring of scenes deemed offensive or have sexual content, Adam had said.