Guan Eng: Ban was merely to score brownie points

The cabinet’s decision to stand by its 10-point solution shows that the Home Ministry’s ban on The Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ was merely to score brownie points with Muslims and not to protect the sanctity of Islam, says DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

“By permitting ‘Allah’ to be used in Sabah and Sarawak, this is a clear defensive electoral strategy designed to protect BN’s political interests there as there are fewer Malays and Muslims in both states.

“BN is not bothered about religious harmony or religious values. If they were concerned about religious values they would have taken steps to combat and punish corruption,” he said in a statement today.
                    
He was responding to a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Kurup, who reportedly said that the word ‘Allah’ can be used by Sabahan and Sarawakian Christians in their worship, including in the Malay-language Bible al-Kitab.

He said this is in accordance to the 10-point solution that allows the importation and printing of Bibles in any language, which includes the al-Kitab that uses the word ‘Allah’.

The decision follows a Court of Appeal ruling on Monday upholding the Home Ministry’s ban and overturning a 2009 High Court ruling that the ban is unconstitutional.

Lim said by allowing Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to use the word ‘Allah’ but not those in peninsula Malaysia, the only conclusion that can be made is that “BN is destroying religious harmony in Malaysia by irresponsibly and deviously exploiting Islam for selfish political gain by allowing the word ‘Allah’.”