Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing described yesterday's raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) by officers from the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) as "yet another chapter in the growing catalogue of infringements by the authorities on the freedom of Christians to practice their religion as enshrined by the federal constitution."

"There's only one person who can stop this madness and that is the prime minister," said the head of the Catholic Church in the Malacca-Johor diocese.

"But I fear he's far too craven to do anything about it which would mean that the downward spiral of the last three years in the relations between Muslims and Christians is headed for further deterioration," remarked the Jesuit-trained prelate.

Officers from Jais, accompanied by police personnel, raided the BSM premises in Damansara where they seized copies of the Malay Bible.

BSM chairperson Lee Min Choon and office manager Sinclair Wong were questioned at the Damansara police station for 90 minutes before being released on bail. Both were told to report to the Jais on Jan 10 to help in further investigations.

10-point solution violated

"Who gave Jais the right to question Christians on matters that concern only the Christians themselves. Has Jais, with the aid of the police force, become an insidious type of Gestapo in Malaysia?" queried Bishop Paul Tan.

He noted that the raid by Jais on BSM and the questioning of staff of the society violated the 10-point solution that the government worked out with Christian groups when the controversy over Christians' use of the word 'Allah' reignited in 2011.

"I see the raid on the BSM premises as part of a continuum in the saga of repression of Christians by extremists who want to embellish their religious credentials through repressing Christians."

The bishop with the support of recent pronouncements of Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, urged a halt to religious persecution.