‘Ban only applicable to Herald’

Umno supreme council member Saifudin Abdullah says the ban on the use of the term 'Allah' is only applicable to the Catholic weekly Herald, and is not a blanket against non-Muslims.

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders today criticised State Reform Party (Star) Sabah chairman Jeffrey Kitingan for suggesting that Sabah and Sarawak secede from Malaysia in response to the Court of Appeal’s ruling banning the use of the word ‘Allah by the Catholic publication, The Herald.

They said Kitingan’s suggestion was a form of sedition and could create chaos in the country.

Umno supreme council member Saifudin Abdullah rubbished Kitingan’s statement and stressed that the ban was not a blanket ruling against all non-Muslims but was specific to The Herald.

Saifudin said the authorities must study Kitingan’s statement in the proper perspective.

He added the issue had become confusing with individuals issuing their own statements.

“The word pull out of Malaysia is a very heavy word to use and its is illogical.

“You have to make a statement in a professional manner and not use your emotions to comment,” he said when contacted.

Yesterday, Kitingan had said that the Court of Appeal decision on Monday to allow the government ban on the word Allah from being used in The Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia edition clearly showed that the Umno-led BN government had never been sincere in implementing multi-racialism and that religious inclusiveness had now been discarded altogether.

Kitingan warned that there was no other possibility but a probable break-up of Malaysia if the race and religion division was allowed to continue.

“There is no point in retaining Sabah and Sarawak within the Federation of Malaysia when the ultra-Malays in Malaya keep trying to break it up and without any appropriate response or with the silent acquiescence from the federal government,” he contended.

Unwise statement

Sabah youth and sports minister Taufik Abu Bakar meanwhile said Kitingan should stop twisting the facts and misleading the public.

He said everyone must respect the court decision and everyone in Sabah had no problem with the decision as it did not affect the east Malaysian Christians.

Taufik opined that Kitingan had made an unwise statement and that his allegations against the government was irrelevant.

“Don’t politicise this issue and Sabah will remain as part of Malaysia. It is not an issue at all actually,’ said Taufik.

BN Bandar Tun Razak division executive secretary Zahrain Mohd Yassin suggested Kitingan do some reading about history and religion before issuing statements.

He said the court ruling was based on history and the federal constituency, and did not in any way discriminate other religions.

“He should read the Malaysian history and the constitution first.” he said.