Why those religious books were seized in the first place. - Tuan Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING: The recent return of 351 Bibles to the rightful owner has been described as a wise and correct decision by two BN Muslim leaders.
Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Bumiputera Entrepreneur Development) Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais, when commenting on the issue yesterday, said the episode should not have happened.
“The seizure should not have happened in the first place; hence, the decision by the authority to return them is a wise decision. They should also apologise to the body who owns the Bibles,” he said.
Naroden, also Assistant Minister of Resource Planning, said the people were followers of different religious figures, but all have faith that there is one creator.
“So why make a big fuss over a name or its use if the word refers to God?”
He echoed Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s statement that the people were free to believe in any established religion and that the term Allah to refer to God Almighty was not an issue in the state.
Assistant Minister of Youth Development Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah also said returning the Bibles was a correct move.
“Hopefully, lessons are learnt from this episode and no overzealous religious officials repeat the same mistake.”
Pat on the back for Naroden, Abdul Karim
ReplyDeleteNovember 18, 2014
KUCHING: A Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) supreme council member Datuk Kristoffer Nyuak is very touched and delighted by comments from two Muslim assistant ministers of Sarawak, Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais and Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, that it was right for the authorities to return the seized Bibles in Selangor to their rightful owner.
He said their comments were a real testimony of religious tolerance and freedom that Sarawakians had been practising over the years.
Such spirit of understanding and tolerance, he elaborated, would augur well for racial and religious harmony in the state and bring about unimpeded progress and prosperity to its multi-racial and multi-religious people.
He also said Sarawak was fortunate to have a Head of State and Chief Minister who subscribed to religious tolerance and rejected religious extremism.
“Of course I am very proud of my party president, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, for being very vocal in defending not only the rights of Christians but also the rights of every citizen to practise their religion as enshrined in the Constitution” added Nyuak.
He hoped that leaders in Peninsular Malaysia would learn from Sarawak leaders and practise what they see in Sarawak in their states and formulate policies that are fair and just to all communities in Malaysia.
The 1Malaysia concept would be meaningless if the people were not treated equally or divided along religious and racial lines, he added.