Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today said his ministry must be seen to be “aware and sensitive” in responding to public complaints against publications that allegedly contained elements that violated the law.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of PKR’s 17th annual congress, Saifuddin once again defended actions by Home Ministry enforcement officers to confiscate books for purposes of investigation.
“Let us allow the (investigation) process to take place. There are various critics and views, which I accept in good faith.
“But on the other hand, the Home Ministry must also be seen to be aware and sensitive towards public complaints.
“We must find the middle path,” said the PKR secretary-general when asked for comments after Home Ministry officials confiscated eight books from independent bookstore Gerak Budaya on Thursday.
The books were written in Chinese and were related to the communist insurgency in Malaya.
Five of the books appear to be part of a series about the history of the insurgency and two are memoirs by members of the Communist Party of Malaya. It is unclear what the one remaining book is about.
The action prompted criticism from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan, who urged the government to move on from its “Cold War guidelines”.
Commenting further, Saifuddin insisted it was inaccurate to describe the Home Ministry’s action as a “raid” on a premise, and that any books confiscated would be returned if found to not contain any elements that violated the law.
“What we cannot allow is enforcement action that goes beyond provisions of the law. That is not permissible,” he stressed.
Previously, the ministry had similarly confiscated two books in August from another bookstore owned by the author Benz Ali, including one book about Karl Marx - whose works gave rise to communist and socialist ideologies.
At the time, Saifuddin had also cited the same grounds to defend the Home Ministry’s enforcement action. - Mkini
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