Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming has urged the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais) and the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) to prove that the confiscated copies of the Bible in their possession are still in good condition.

He said this following Mais apparent reluctance to have the holy books returned and even going as far as urging that they be destroyed.

“The first step that needs to be taken by Mais and Jais is to show that the Bible copies seized are in good condition and have not been destroyed or damaged,” said Ong ( right ).

Jais, under Mais, had in January raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) premises and confiscated more than 300 copies of the Bible in the Malay and Iban languages for using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.

Jais had relied on the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, which outlaws the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims.

Ong said Mais’ demand for a court order to have the holy books destroyed was illegal and unconstitutional, especially after the Attorney-General’s Chambers had declared that there was no case .

“To ask for the destruction of the Bible under the Criminal Procedure Code is illegal since the AG has stated that no crime has been committed in the publication of the BSM Bible.

“As such, Mais and Jais have to work together to ensure the safe return of the BSM Bible to the owners,” he said.

Mais, which released the statement urging that the holy books be destroyed on Saturday, later clarified it meant that an order from the court was necessary to determine if they should be released or destroyed.

Ong added even though Mais was now relying on Article 11(4) of the federal constitution, which allows state law to control and restrict the propagation of any other religion among Muslims, it has showed no evidence the holy books were used for this purpose.

'Who is in charge?'

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong maintained that Mais was “disregarding the rule of law” by defying the state government’s instructions for the copies of the Bible to be returned.

“Mais, established as a corporate body under the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003, has a legal duty to toe the line and abide by the decision of the AG’s Chambers, as well as instruction from the state government to return the Bible,” Mah ( left ) asserted.

As such, he said, Mais’ insistence to do otherwise begs the question, “who is in charge” in the state.

“It is high time that Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim exercises his authority on this issue and ensures that Mais will return the confiscated (copies of the) Bible to BSM, with a guarantee that a similar incident must never be repeated again in the future.

“Khalid has two-thirds support from the Selangor state assembly and the AG’s Chambers has also cleared the legal hurdles for him to take necessary action. It is now time for him to show political will and set things straight again,” Mah added.

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