PAS ulama council’s defence of the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department’s (Jais) intrusion at a Hindu wedding and taking the bride away last Sunday exposes the party’s “arrogance”, a trait MCA said will be further aggravated should hudud come to pass.

Wanita MCA chief Heng Seai Kie said Jais’ actions were “clearly aimed at bullying and lording its physical might on the Hindu couple, their families, the priest and guests”.

As such, Heng  ( right ) said in a statement, PAS’ support also proved that the Pakatan Rakyat component party was not sincere in its election pledge that it aims for a welfare state and that hudud would not be imposed on non-Muslims.

   

She was referring to the statement made by PAS ulama council acting deputy chief Mahfodz Mohamed in support of Jais’ actions, in which Mahfodz said the department had the authority to raid any premises, including non-Muslim places of worship.

Mahfodz was quoted by The Star today as saying that it was right for such weddings to be halted, “unless the individuals concerned legally renounced the religion”.

“Here we have the ulama council, which wields the highest level of authority within PAS and as practised in any country that adopts the administration of Islamic state, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Taliban regime, where religious clerics have the final say, asserting that state religious authorities may infringe non-Muslim rights with impunity.

“His (Mahfodz’s) statement exposes PAS’ arrogant and autocratic ways, and if PAS is allowed to have its way, this will further aggravate the situation,” Heng said.

“Therefore, I urge the people, and especially DAP and PKR, to prevent PAS from tabling its proposed Private Member’s Bill to implement hudud in Kelantan during the September session of the Dewan Rakyat.”

Not the first time Jais acted thus

                                           

Heng added that this, too, was not the first time Jais carried out its operations on premises belonging to non-Muslims, and that it seemed to have “become a practice” under Pakatan rule.

Calling Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s assertion that Jais must not act before first informing the state government as “nothing but hot air”, she said Khalid must now hold Jais’ director-general accountable for Sunday’s debacle, or have the person removed.

On Sunday’s incident, Jais officers crashed the wedding of 32-year-old Zarina Abdullah Majid at a Hindu temple in Petaling Jaya and took her away for questioning as they suspected she was Muslim due to her name.

Zarina had later claimed that although born and raised a Hindu, her father, who had long since left the family, had registered her and her siblings as Muslims.

She said her previous attempts to have her religion changed by the National Registration Department proved futile.