Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein was in contempt of court when he made stern remarks about religious issues during the wing's annual assembly on Tuesday, said an opposition leader.

At a press conference today, DAP chairperson and prominent lawyer Karpal Singh said the ruling politician must show cause as to why he should not be jailed for this.

In his opening address at the assembly, Hishammuddin warned religious freedom groups not to raise issues related to Article 11 and Article 121 (1A) in the Federal Constitution.

The articles pertain to freedom of religion and the jurisdiction of the civil and syariah courts in dealing with religious matters.

Hishamuddin also said only the syariah court is allowed to hear and judge cases involving Islam.

CJ must act

According to Karpal, the comments were "clearly in contempt of the highest court in the country" which has reserved its judgment on the Lina Joy case .

"The matter is, therefore, subjudice. The judgment is yet to be delivered," the Bukit Gelugor MP told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

"Hishammuddin is a lawyer by training and holds an exalted position in the cabinet as education minister. He should have known better than uttering these words," he added.

Joy, born Azlina Jailani, changed her name when she converted to Christianity from Islam in 1998. She is embroiled in a legal tussle to have the National Registration Department change her religious status on her identity card which currently reads 'Islam'.

The decision of the case is now pending at the Federal Court.

Karpal urged Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Halim to instruct Hishammuddin to show cause as to why he should not be committed to prison for contempt of court.

"The chief justice cannot afford to see the Federal Court being subjected to threats from the executive. Any silence by the chief justice will be an affront to the doctrine of separation of powers," he stressed.

Karpal also took Hishammuddin to task over his 'negative remark' in rejecting the proposed interfaith commission.

"Hishammuddin should not have gone overboard and sought to seek cheap publicity at the assembly," he said.

Raising the keris

The Umno Youth chief's move to brandish the keris (traditional Malay dagger) at the assembly also came under fire from the opposition leader.

According to Karpal, this was another attempt by Hishammuddin to use the keris as a "weapon of offense" rather than a traditional Malay symbol.

"Even Hishammuddin's father, third premier Tun Hussein Onn, our present Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and even (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not take out the keris at the Umno general assembly or at any other occasion," he said.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang told the same press conference that Hishammuddin should apologise for his 'insensitivity'.

The Umno Youth chief had explained that the keris is not a symbol of colonisation, oppression or exploitation of the non-Malays but embodies the hopes and aspirations of the Malays.

In an unrelated development, the Dewan Rakyat rejected an emergency motion moved by Karpal against lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's public criticism of a remand extension in connection with the case of murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Sharibuu.

Deputy Speaker Lim Si Cheng said the motion was not urgent to be debated and not of public interest.

Shafee is representing political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged with abetting the murder.