Govt gives pledge on RUU355, bill to limit propagation of non-Muslim faiths

 

Minister in the prime minister’s department Idris Ahmad says two religious bills to be tabled in Parliament will only focus on the Muslims. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The religious rights of non-Muslims will not be affected by the proposed RUU355 and the bill to restrict the propagation on non-Islamic religions, the government said today.

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs, Idris Ahmad, gave this assurance in the Dewan Rakyat when responding to a question by Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang), who expressed concern that the bills will infringe on religious freedom enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

“The bill to restrict the propagation of non-Islamic religions will only be enforced on Muslims. Non-Muslims are free to propagate their faiths among themselves,” the minister in the prime minister’s department said.

Asked by Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas) how will the government tackle the perceptions by non-Muslims that the two bills will pave the way to discrimination and “Talibanisation of Malaysia”, Idris said they “will not concern the non-Muslim community at all”.

“These bills do not involve the non-Muslims as they only focus on Muslims,” he said.

Both bills are expected to be presented in Parliament this year. Technical committees have been formed to fine-tune them to be in line with the Constitution and hukum syarak.

The proposals will be presented to the state governments in a series of meetings from Oct 12 to 14. - FMT