Rights of non-Muslims in Kelantan protected, says MB’s aide

 

Lau Chin Chua has invited outsiders who are sceptical about Kelantan’s policies to visit the state and observe how non-Muslim communities live there. (Wikipedia pic)

PETALING JAYA: PAS’ rivals who paint Kelantan in a bad light have exacerbated the prejudice of “outsiders” towards the state, says the menteri besar’s special officer.

Lau Chin Chua said the non-Muslim community in Kelantan have no issues with the state government’s policies even though PAS has led Kelantan for over 33 years.

“Most of the sceptics are those who live outside Kelantan,” Lau said. They have never visited Kelantan but make numerous negative claims about the state.

He said politicians who are not aligned with PAS have attempted to instil fear in non-Muslims there to win elections.

Lau said the non-Muslim community in Kelantan are free to practise their beliefs and build houses of worship.

He said the state allows Buddhist temples to be built on its land and has gazetted them as places to practise religious activities. Some temples were even built on land exceeding 4ha.

“No tax is imposed (on the temples),” he said, adding that the state government protects the rights of non-Muslims.

Lau also invited outsiders who are sceptical about the state government’s policies to visit Kelantan and observe how non-Muslim communities live there.

He was commenting on Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong’s claim that policies in PAS-led states are causing concern among the non-Malay communities.

Oh, who is also the Penang Gerakan chief, did not go into specifics about PAS’ policies in Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu, which he alleged have stood in the way of Perikatan Nasional gaining support from non-Muslims. - FMT