Home Ministry 'outsources' its powers to Jawi

YOURSAY 'It is outrageous to charge a store manager who works in a bookshop where she has absolutely no control over what books are displayed for sale.'

'Jawi can seize books without Home Ministry decree' 

Gerard Lourdesamy: So the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) is now above the home minister?

What about the PPPA (Printing Presses and Publications Act) 1984 - is it subordinate to the Federal Territory Syariah Enactments? Is the federal constitution now subordinate to the syariah and the whims and fancies of a bunch of mad mullahs who use and abuse Islam for their own political purposes?

We are certainly going the way of the Taliban and the sooner the West realises this, the better for all.

PM Najib Razak should stop parading his moderate Islamic credentials abroad when at home the religious authorities are getting from bad to worse in the their persecution of Muslims, and even non-Muslims.

Anonymous #99570211: Wow, now Jawi is really above the law.

Wira: Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz is just the store manager. She could not decide what books should or should not be sold by Borders.

What kind of justice is this to charge her under the syariah law when the charge could not be brought against Borders itself because it is not a Muslim body?

Now we have the home minister telling the court that Jawi has the power to prosecute (read: persecute) a Muslim who is performing an ambiguous duty for a non-Muslim employer.

The implication of this is enormous because by extension, any Muslim serving alcoholic drinks in any restaurant can similarly be charged in court because the home minister chose to abet with the religious authorities for political expedience.

Not Confused: This case just shows what a low point this country has sunk to. To permit an unelected body like Jawi to seize books from commercial outlets and charge innocent rakyat for allegedly selling books with which it disagrees is ridiculous.

The fact that the government supports such actions is another sign that they have abrogated their rights to govern and must be thrown out unceremoniously at the coming GE. If not, Malaysia will sink even further in our racial and religious quagmire.

FellowMalaysian: It is absolutely outrageous to charge an innocent store manager who works for a living in a bookshop where she has absolutely no control over what books are displayed for sale.
If Jawi is unable to apprehend the bookstore owner, irrespective of what Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has to say, the absurdity of Jawi's action against the store manager becomes even more heinous.

Stop using the helpless and innocent girl as your scapegoat. Choose someone your size if you have the guts.

iVote: I do not wish to say much on the home minister's intelligence as most people know that he has a law degree. But we know that law is law and anything that does not go by law is an offence.

The book was not banned, how could it be left to another organisation to dictate that it was offensive and has the authority to confiscate it.

If Nik Raina is found guilty, then it has a far reaching outcome in that many Muslims will be unable to work for a living in many bookstores that sell other religious books or any restaurant and coffee-houses that sell alcoholic drinks.

Swipenter: So Jawi is now the judge and jury in anything they deem "offensive" to their holier-than-thou attitude.

The Home Ministry is now defunct by this very affidavit of the home minister as far as Jawi and all other Islamic authorities are concerned. Mullahs reign supreme in Bolehland.

T: The civil courts need to send a clear signal that they are still the highest courts of law in the land. Giving more and more powers to the syariah courts is absurd. The syariah laws are not drafted by Parliament and each state has their own set.

Anonymous1234@): Who is running the country again? It seems that organisations like Perkasa, Jawi, etc, appear to be the ones setting policies for the country. Since BN no longer interested in running the country, we better vote them out of Putrajaya in GE13.

YHJ: If Jawi can seize any book, how would any bookseller know what it can sell? This is absolutely ridiculous. What next?

Will Jawi go into boutique stores and check whether clothes on sale "will poke the eye"? The Home Ministry should not collude with Jawi.

Guardian: This decision damns the minister and it creates the lamest excuse in the abdication of responsibility. Malaysians, we are equally damned by this decision, being continuously denied of our right to think for ourselves.

Must we be afraid of our conscience? Should we be damned by this minister? I say no, Malaysians can and must decide on such issues.

Karma: Yes, he was the one who said verily wrong that seizing of journalists' cameras is SOP (standard operating procedure).

He also said there was likelihood of Christian conspiracy and he supported the cow-head protest. He said twice that the Bersih protest will fail and he was okay with it, but then not okay. Yet, thousands came.

So who is he? Our home minister, who cannot guarantee our safety! - Malaysiakini