Is issuing a fatwa making bloodshed permissible considered less seditious then stating the fact that the word 'Allah' has been used in the Bible used in Malaysia for hundreds of years?
And is poking fun at Hindu deities and urging the burning of the Bahasa Malaysia Bible also less seditious than asserting the constitutional right of Christians to practise their religion as they see fit?
These are the questions asked by DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua following the questioning by police of Catholic weekly the Heraldeditor Father Lawrence Andrew under the Sedition Act yesterday.
Wrapping his head around it, the MP said that for him, there is no other explanation but “double standards”.
'Smacks of double standards'
“The decision by the police to commence investigation of sedition against Father Andrew smacks clearly of double standards when other religious leaders make statemens that are far more controversial, and even dangerous,” Pua said.
“We call upon the Royal Malaysian Police to act impartially, in accordance with the provisions of our federal constitution and the laws of this land and not be biased against any person based on his religion, race or descent.”
The other religious leaders Pua is referring to include Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria who said bloodshed against protesters at an anti-price hike rally is permissible, after he termed them “bughah” - an Islamic term for those who take up arms against a just leader.
“Despite the outrageous and indisputably seditious suggestion made by Harussani, not a single finger has been lifted to chastise, much less investigate the Perak mufti for his statement,” Pua said.
Similarly, he said, leaders from Malay rights group Perkasa, such as Zulkifli Noordin, who ridiculed Hindu deities and questioned the purity of the Ganges River, and Ibrahim Ali, who urged that copies of the Bible using the term 'Allah' should be burned, are also unscathed.
“No action was taken against these individuals, despite the severity of their 'seditious' acts,” he said.
Lawrence was yesterday quizzed by police under the Sedition Act following a statement he made to news portal The Malaysian Insider.
In the article, he is quoted as saying that the word 'Allah' has been used in the Bible in Malaysia for more than a century, without any restriction.
And is poking fun at Hindu deities and urging the burning of the Bahasa Malaysia Bible also less seditious than asserting the constitutional right of Christians to practise their religion as they see fit?
These are the questions asked by DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua following the questioning by police of Catholic weekly the Heraldeditor Father Lawrence Andrew under the Sedition Act yesterday.Wrapping his head around it, the MP said that for him, there is no other explanation but “double standards”.
'Smacks of double standards'
“The decision by the police to commence investigation of sedition against Father Andrew smacks clearly of double standards when other religious leaders make statemens that are far more controversial, and even dangerous,” Pua said.
“We call upon the Royal Malaysian Police to act impartially, in accordance with the provisions of our federal constitution and the laws of this land and not be biased against any person based on his religion, race or descent.”
The other religious leaders Pua is referring to include Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria who said bloodshed against protesters at an anti-price hike rally is permissible, after he termed them “bughah” - an Islamic term for those who take up arms against a just leader.
“Despite the outrageous and indisputably seditious suggestion made by Harussani, not a single finger has been lifted to chastise, much less investigate the Perak mufti for his statement,” Pua said.Similarly, he said, leaders from Malay rights group Perkasa, such as Zulkifli Noordin, who ridiculed Hindu deities and questioned the purity of the Ganges River, and Ibrahim Ali, who urged that copies of the Bible using the term 'Allah' should be burned, are also unscathed.
“No action was taken against these individuals, despite the severity of their 'seditious' acts,” he said.
Lawrence was yesterday quizzed by police under the Sedition Act following a statement he made to news portal The Malaysian Insider.
In the article, he is quoted as saying that the word 'Allah' has been used in the Bible in Malaysia for more than a century, without any restriction.
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