Nurul slams Raja Nong Chik, Umno and MCA for escalating 'azan' row

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah has taken FT Minister Raja Nong Chik, JAWI, and other Umno-linked groups to task for escalating the azan or call-to-prayer issue at her constituency, warning them not to try and stir up further trouble for her constituents.

"Rather than sitting down with all groups and going through guidelines, what they have done is to gloss over the entire incident and try to portray themselves as 'heroes' to the Muslim community," Nurul told Malaysia Chronicle at the sidelines of a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

She was referring to a 'show' ostensibly put up by the Prime Minister's Department, where MCA member Ng Kian Nam had apologized to "all Muslims for the confusion" he caused when he wrote and sent a letter direct to Najib's office complaining of the unduly high volume of the azanloudspeakers at a mosque nearby to his house.

Lies, lack of consistent policies

Minister in charge of religious affairs Jamil Baharom had confirmed receiving the complaint, but - the Fderal territories Islamic Department - has denied instructing the mosque to lower the volume.

Yet the Imam of the Masjid al-Ikhlasiah in Kampung Kerinchi has said in no uncertain terms that he did receive JAWI's instructions to lower the volume. In fact, the mosque committee met as a result of the instruction and agreed to reduce the sound. However, Muslims residents in the area soon complained that it was now too soft.

That gave the opportunity for Umno-linked groups such as Pekida and Perkasa to stir up the issue. They helped organise a protest at the mosque compound where a crowd of about 100 people burned effigies of Ng, telling him to "leave Malaysia" and even threatened to "drag him out and beat him up".

"There are obviously huge inconsistencies in the statements that have been made. JAWI should also explain why it waited so long to issue a denial and why it contradicts what the Imam said. The SMS messages were circulating for days and I had called for the authories to clear the air to avoid dangerous incidents. But they only did what suited them. You see, this is more than just about hand-shakes and public relations. There is an issue that needs to nailed down and solved. It won't go away on its own. What Raja Nong Chik, Umno and MCA have done is just to escalate the problem," said Nurul.

"Sooner or later, it will flare up again and we will all be traumatized and held to ransom by political opportunists trying to gain mileage out of a situation. All groups - Muslims and non-Muslims - should be consulted and the government must take the initiative and have courage to issue clear guidelines. They must also make sure that these are consistently enforced and not intentionally kept hazy so that it can be turned into racial and religious issues each time it benefits them or when an election or by-election is near. Where is the standard and quality of governance?"