An Islamic preacher who was to speak about the amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 at a forum last night had been pressured into backing out of the event, the organiser claimed.

The preacher, Nurul Haq Shahrir, was supposed to appear as a panellist at the event, themed ‘Implications of (PAS President) Hadi Awang’s RUU 355’ in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, which was organised by MCA’s religious harmony bureau.

However, Nurul Haq did not show up, and the bureau’s chairperson Ti Lian Ker said this was due to the pressure that the preacher had received.

“It shows that even an ustaz does not have the freedom to speak his mind. Even if he may have a more cautious or more moderate view, he is not free to speak his mind,” he told reporters after moderating the forum.

However, he declined to name where the pressure against Nurul Haq had come from. When asked, he said this is a private matter.

Nurul Haq is a member of Majlis Dakwah Negara’s Islamic law transformation panel. He recently courted controversy after his opinion piece titled ‘Hadi’s bill: A violation of the syariah’ was published on the news portal Free Malaysia Today on Feb 25.

Among others, Nurul Haq had argued that hudud was only part of Syariah Law, and ‘ramming’ it into Malaysia’s current system would not serve its purpose of ensuring justice.

The forum’s panellists who were present included Putrajaya MCA Youth chief Kevin Koo, the Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association deputy president Moeis Basri, Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) vice-president Sardar Jagir Singh and Malay Mail Online assistant news editor Zurairi Abdul Rahman.

The forum held at Wisma MCA saw an attendance of about 100 people, including a substantial number who appeared to be Muslims.

Ti said he was very happy with the conduct and decorum at the forum, and being able to engage with both Muslims and non-Muslims.

“This should be the way forward. I think there is more room for discussions and engagements, and I think Malaysians should also (learn) from what we have experienced here.

“We can sit together - Muslims, non-Muslims, competing bills, differing views - we can sit together and we can agree to disagree, and we can agree to agree,” he said.

This is the religious harmony bureau’s first such forum, and Ti said he is willing to organise more forums if there is a demand for it.

To a question whether PAS would be invited to speak in future forums organised by the bureau, Ti said yes, but only if the purpose is to exchange views and find common ground rather than to confront one another.