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The Sikh community will use ‘Allah’ to refer to God as there is no prohibition on the use of the term by the community, says senior lawyer Karpal Singh.

“It is in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, and it has been there all the time. We will carry on with it.

“I do not see any problem arising, as none has arisen so far. It’s in our holy book and I do not think any of the authorities should raid us," Karpal said.

Freedom of religion, he added, is guaranteed under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution and each religion is allowed to manage its own affairs.

“Yes, of course it is covered under Article 11 of the constitution,” he said.

The DAP leader was asked about the use of ‘Allah’ by Sikhs on the sidelines of his sedition case in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today, following the Selangor enactment barring the use of the word by non-Muslims.

This follows the Jan 2 action taken by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) in seizing more than 300 copies of the Bible in the Malay and Iban languages from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), which received a lot of criticism from Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The Jais raid was conducted because the Bible in the two languages used the term ‘Allah’ to refer to God. Three representatives from BSM were called in for questioning by Jais today.

Move goes against 10-point Solution

The move is said to go against the 10-point Solution drawn up by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's cabinet in April 2011, after the Sarawak state election.

The solution allows the import and publication of the Bible in the Malay/Indonesian and indigenous community languages and the use the of the term ‘Allah’ in them.

The Selangor executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs, Sallehen Mukhyi, has said the state government was not informed of the raid by Jais.

As a result of this, Sallehen said, the state government has decided to have a new standard operating procedure, which will require Jais to inform the state exco before such raids are conducted.