Hadi trying to 'caste' other religions in bad light, says Baru

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang appears to be trying to cast other religions in a bad light by claiming that Christianity and Hinduism involved "caste", said Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian.

"The irresistible conclusion one could make from Hadi's statement is that he is trying to portray other religions as being no good, unfair or unjust, or biased.

"By doing so, he has angered and/or hurt the feelings of Malaysians of the Christian and Hindu faiths.

"This remark borders on the seditious and reflects on Hadi as an irresponsible leader who does not seem to care whether his statements injure the feelings of others," Baru (photo), who is also the Ba' kelalan lawmaker, said in a statement.

In a report by Harakah Daily yesterday, Hadi denied allegations that PAS was trying to introduce a "religious caste" system in Malaysia.

He said Islam treated everyone equally, unlike Hinduism and Christianity which recognises "caste", because the priest is regarded as "sacred".

Hadi had said this in response to a news report which cited him stating only Muslims should be policymakers in the cabinet while non-Muslims would only be allowed to implement policy.

The Malaysian Insight had reported him saying such at a function in Penang on Sunday. The New Straits Times had reported Hadi making similar remarks in December last year.

Baru said Hadi's statement was shocking because it reflected the latter's ignorance of the Christian faith.

"There is neither Jew or Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus," said Baru, citing Galatians 3:28 from the Bible.

"Hadi clearly has no knowledge or understanding of the Christian faith and should have exercised some wisdom and restraint instead of allowing his ignorance to become so glaringly obvious."

Baru said that Hadi should share his party's plans to eliminate corruption and kleptocracy instead of trying to "score points by insulting other religions".

"His current tactics do nothing to engender any confidence that he and his party members are capable of governing a multi-racial and multi-religious country such as ours.

"It will not be a surprise to me if he responds again that he was wrongly quoted by the media," said Baru, in calling for Hadi's apology to Hindus and Christians. - Mkini