Guan Eng: 'Insult' on Bible wouldn't have happened in Nik Aziz time

After a PAS MP's remark on the Christian Bible in Parliament, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng compared how the Islamist party is today with the time when it was led by the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

According to Lim, such disrespect against other religions would not have been made by any PAS leader during the time of Nik Aziz, who was the party's spiritual leader.

"Such open disrespect of Christians does not represent Malaysia, especially coming from an MP of an Islamic party that is openly hostile to non-Muslims.

"When the moderate former Kelantan menteri besar Nik Aziz was still alive, no such insults would have been made by PAS against Christians and the Bible.

"After the demise of Nik Aziz, PAS has become more extremist and thus ignored, but the situation is different now that they are part of the federal government," said Lim in a statement today.

The Bagan MP's statement came in response to last week's incident where PAS MP for Pasir Puteh Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh said the Bible was "distorted".

Zawawi had made the supposedly offensive remarks in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday while debating the Road Transport Act amendments bill - which seeks to increase punishment for drink driving.

He had declined to apologise when asked to do so, saying that Christians have no right to feel offended and claimed that what he said was not an accusation but "a fact".

Nik Aziz, a widely respected politician, used to be the Kelantan menteri besar before his retirement in 2013. He passed away on Feb 12, 2015.

'Other PN parties subservient to PAS'

Adding further, Lim claimed that Zawawi (photo) had further insulted Christians when he declined to apologise.

"Zawawi has ignored the fact that the Federal Constitution clearly states that Islam is the religion of the federation but non-Muslims have a right to practice and profess their own religion.

"Such fundamental rights of course have a consequential effect of disallowing insults to religions. Further, I have been told by my Muslim friends that Islam forbids any insult or degradation of other religions."

He also called for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) ruling coalition, including cabinet members from its component parties, to not let Zawawi off the hook for making such remarks.

Their failure to demand action against the MP, Lim added, shows "how subservient the present government leaders are to PAS".

"If the present government still upholds the guarantees afforded to non-Muslims in the Federal Constitution, then this PAS MP should not be allowed to escape for making such offensive remarks.

"Current ministers and deputy ministers, especially government party leaders, should be thoroughly ashamed for being so frightened of PAS and their failure to act against this PAS MP."

For the record, the PN government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin only has a slim majority of two seats in Parliament. Currently, it has the support of 113 MPs, 18 of which are from PAS.

Sabah PAS condemns Shafie Apdal for criticising Zawawi

Meanwhile, in a related matter, Sabah PAS has condemned the state's incumbent chief minister Shafie Apdal over the latter's statement criticising Zawawi.

This comes after Shafie (photo) posted on Facebook yesterday reminding politicians especially PAS leaders not to make extreme remarks that can create disunity in the country.

"If we act using issues that can create disunity among races and religions, then multiracial unity can never be achieved.

"Just recently, Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi during his debate in Parliament claimed that the Bible used by Christians in this country had been distorted.

"This statement had sparked anger among the Christian community including church leaders nationwide who have since called for him to apologise. Such an extreme statement should not have been made because it does not do any good to our future generation," Shafie said in his post.

The Warisan president then added a warning on the possible danger of extremism.

He said that bloodshed could happen if extremism exists in a society where sensitive racial and religious topics are taken advantage of without limit and regard to human lives.

Following this, Sabah PAS secretary Aliakbar Gulasan issued a statement saying that the chief minister should be a leader who contributes harmony in the society instead of fanning the fire.

Aliakbar said he viewed Shafie's Facebook post as an attempt to spark conflict of race and religion.

"My conclusion is that Warisan and Pakatan Harapan in Sabah really like to stretch on issues involving race and religion.

"I still remember how Peter Anthony and Madius Tangau condemned PAS and Umno during the Kimanis by-election, which was made based on negative perception and racism, to the extent that signposts were erected to condemn PAS although PAS did not contest in the by-election. Clearly the people rejected such racist politicking.

"I hope Shafie Apdal and the whole leadership of Warisan and Harapan would stop making such racist statements like this," said Aliakbar. - Mkini