CFM to ponder Putrajaya’s Alkitab offer

By Debra Chong

March 23, 2011

The government has offered to mask the ink stamps using stickers. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) will meet next week to discuss the Najib administration’s proposed solution to end the Alkitab stalemate ahead of the crucial Sarawak state polls.

A source confirmed a special Cabinet committee, which included Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, had met with CFM last week to offer the compromise.

However, CFM said it needed to consult all stakeholders, including clerics from Sabah and Sarawak and their legal advisors, before it can respond to Putrajaya’s offer regarding 35,000 Malay bibles seized from Port Klang and Kuching and stamped with the home ministry’s official seal.

Hishammuddin said the stamping of the Alkitab was standard protocol. — file pic

“This is because there are long-term implications,” the source who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Malaysian Insider last night, adding Christians were fed up with what they saw as 30 years of bureaucratic high-handedness over their religious rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

The ongoing row over the Alkitab — as the Malay-language bibles are called here — started in January and came to a head last week after the home ministry stamped the two separate shipments with its official seal before ordering their release.

The Christian importers have denounced the Najib administration for the act, which they say is a desecration of their holy book.

Yesterday, the government backed down and offered to paste over the marked Alkitab with labels that simply read “For Christianity”.

In a media statement to national news agency, Bernama, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala said Christian donors have also volunteered to ship in a new replacement consignment so long as the importers agreed to have the same words “For Christianity” stamped on their covers in font type Arial size 16.

“No other words or serial numbers will be stamped on the bibles,” Jala added.

With polls set to be called in Sarawak next month, the twin issues are expected to weigh on the minds of Christians who make up nearly close to half of the hornbill state’s total population.

The Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds as Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim God.

Christians, however, have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.

The tussle is still trapped in the courts after the ministry won a stay of the 2009 High Court ruling that allowed Catholic weekly The Herald to use “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

Jala told Christians the Alkitab was not being singled out. — file pic

Jala also pointed to a statement from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that the practice of stamping and serialising such books was standard protocol and was similarly extended to the Muslim holy book.

“Qurans which are imported into the country are also checked as authorised copies and are stamped with serial numbers before they are released.

“Qurans which are not authorised are impounded and destroyed. The act of stamping and serialisation of the Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and the Qurans should not be perceived as desecration of holy scriptures,” said Jala.

“The focus should be on getting the Bibles into the hands of people who want to read them; it has been established that the Home Affairs Ministry is not singling out the Bibles for stamping and serialisation because this is also the same practice as they appear in the Quran,” he added.

Jala said the meeting with Christian leaders had been called last Friday, after a high-powered meeting with key Cabinet ministers, including Najib; Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin; Hishammuddin; Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (unity affairs), Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz (parliamentary affairs and law) and Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom (Islamic affairs); and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

“The government wants this matter to be resolved amicably in a non-partisan manner and in line with the spirit of 1 Malaysia.

“The Attorney-General’s involvement is obviously necessary because we have to ensure that the solution must be in the context of the existing laws of the country,” Jala said. - Malaysian Insider