Realizing his blunder, Najib runs to EXEMPT Sabah Sarawak from Allan ban:Critics UNCONVINCED

Maria Begum

In what appears to be an urgent response to allay growing unrest among Christians in Malaysia, Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi has clarified that a ban on the use of the Arabic word Allah only applied to Catholic magazine, the Herald. Other Christian publications including the Malay-language Al-Kitab, which is widely used in Sabah and Sarawak, would not be affected.

To effect this, Junaidi said Prime Minister Najib Razak could introduce a Bill in Parliament to exempt Sabah and Sarawak from the Allah ban. This way, the government would not be seen to be usurping the powers of the court and the legal system -

“Decisions made by the courts are case laws. Even though they become part of the law of the country, they are normally not enforceable. That means you can’t get the police or other agencies to enforce them. They are not statute laws (laws passed by parliament),” Junaidi told reporters on Tuesday.

“We can have a political decision to override the court decision,” he explained.

As for the Herald, Junaidi pointed out that the Catholic magazine would be appealing Monday’s controversial ruling and this would be heard by the Federal Court. According to news portal Malaysian Insider, Junaidi said the Federal Court decision could also be ‘over-ridden by a political decision’.

The deputy minister’s comments suggest that the Najib administration may be willing to relent or at negotiate a more satisfactory outcome.

Riding roughshod over minority rights: Critics smell a rat

However, critics were cautious and accused the Najib administration of more “double standards” and “political dishonesty”. They also said it was “ridiculous” and “shoddy governance” to bar Christians in West Malaysia from using the Allah word but to allow it in East Malaysia.

“I see the latest announcements as another insincere delaying tactic by Najib & Co. What they are doing is actually more double standards and the Christians and minorities should stand together and insist on a holistic solution. This is no longer just about the Allah ban but much more sinister than that,” Opposition MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“What if the Federal Court upholds the Appeals Court decision on the Herald? Yes, Junaidi says the government can ignore the ruling and not enforce the ban in East Malaysia. The government can even make another ‘political decision’ to give special permission to the Herald to use Allah – it has done that before. But the ban and the Appeals Court’s interpretation of what constitutes religious freedom and harmony will still hang over our heads – which is that the ‘safety’ of Islam is to override all else. And ‘safety’ can be anything, like now, the use of the word Allah.

“What does this imply for us, our rights as citizens of minority groups if the courts are allowed to interpret the Federal Constitution in whatever way they wish to please the powers that be. We have been cheated so many times by Umno. Let be very sure that Najib is not giving us a ringgit with his right hand and taking a million from us with his left hand.”

Another Opposition politician William Leong also warned that the Appeals Court ruling had violated the rights of minority groups to manage their own religious affairs.

“The Court of Appeal has failed to protect the minority in accordance with the design and intention of the Federal Constitution. The Court’s function as the third pillar of government is to safeguard the rights of the minority enshrined as the fundamental liberties to freedom of expression, assembly and religion,” William said in a statement.

“In holding the words “peace and harmony” in Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution are to protect the sanctity of Islam and to insulate it against any possible and probable threat where there was no evidence that the Herald was use for propagation amongst Muslims or for proselytization, the Court of Appeal sanctioned the majority use of its power to violate the basic and inalienable rights of the minority to profess and practice their religion under Article 11(1) and that every religious group has the right to manage its own religious affairs under Article 11(2).”

Appeals Court perceived as having acted in bad faith

The conciliatory tone used by Junaidi reflects the wariness of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government, which perhaps had underestimated the extent of the anger felt by the minorities in Malaysia.

Not only Christians but other non-Muslims believe the Appeals Court had deliberately acted in bad faith to rob them of their constitutional rights, delivering a biased judgement that aimed to turn Malaysia into a Malay state.

All 3 members of the panel of judges were Malay Muslims.

“Junaidi is causing some confusion with the word ‘override’. I think he means ‘ignore’. Yes, the government can ignore the judgement because it is not a statute but case law. But then again, this shows that the Najib administration went to court for political reasons,”Opposition MP for Subang Sivarasa Rasiah told Malaysia Chronicle.

Politically motivated appeal

It is worth noting that the Allah ban on the Herald was stirred up in 2007 after the magazine ran an editorial on Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. The Home Minister at that time, Syed Hamid Albar, had threatened to suspend the magazine’s printing permit.

The usage of Allah then got into the picture and the Herald initiated a court action against the government for banning it from using the word to describe God in its Malay-language edition.

In 2009, Syed Hamid agreed to lift the ban, allowing Herald to insert the word into its masthead on the condition that the paper made it clear it was ‘For Christians Only’. However, Syed Hamid reneged on the permission within days of having issued it, triggering talk that he was trying to win votes at his party election which had been imminent.

Since then, the use of the word Allah – which is allowed in non-Muslim places of worship especially Churches in most Middle East nations – has been greatly politicized in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has been accused of ‘sacrificing’ the rights of the minorities in the country so as to get into the good books of the Malays who form 60% of the population in the country.

“Umno leaders may have wanted to use the courts to hammer in the Allah ban but I think they didn’t realize it would blow up in their face. Now they are laughing stocks in the developed world as well as in the Muslim world,” said Tian.

“Some in the Muslim world have already rapped them for trying to make Allah exclusive when Islam is supposed to be inclusive. In the Middle East, they say the use of Allah is encouraged so as to help spread the religion to as many people as possible. Overall, the reaction from the Muslim world is that the Najib administration are not being fair Muslims and that is very shameful.”