KUALA LUMPUR - There is a feeling of gloom among Christians in Malaysia that by hook or by crook, Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Umno-BN government will do wrong by them on Monday.
The majority believe that Najib will use his influence to ensure that a much-anticipated court ruling impresses the Muslims who dominate his political party, Umno, which is due to hold its election for a new central leadership on October 19.
As such, most Christians in Malaysia are bracing for the worse. They expect the Appeals Court to deliver a verdict that bars Catholic magazine, the Herald, from using the Arabic word Allah to describe God.
However, among the Christian political watchers, there are also some who think the Appeals Court will uphold a 2009 High Court decision that had lifted the Home Ministry ban on the Herald using the Allah word. The basis for that High Court decision was that such a prohibition was unconstitutional.
But even among these optimists there is little sense of jubilation.
"We think it is very hard for the Appeals Court to overturn the High Court ruling, especially when the eyes of the world are on this case. How the Malaysian courts interpret their own federal constitution is under the microscope because of the huge international interest and if the Umno-BN government still insist on making a farce of the whole matter, it would really prove that we have kangaroo courts in this country," veteran PKR watcher Eddie Wong told Malaysia Chronicle.
"But to get round this, we are concerned that the Home Minister may use his absolute power under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 to revoke the publishing license of the Herald. So even if the court decision favors the Christians, they may still lose. By doing this, it allows the Najib administration to kill 2 birds with one stone. Firstly, they get to claw back some of the judiciary's long-lost credibility by allowing it to make a fair decision. Secondly, it gives Zahid Hamidi and Hishammuddin Hussein the chance to play hero and with the Umno election next week, you can bet they will milk this to the max. The third option is of course what the majority of Christians are expecting - the Appeals court will reject the High Court's ruling, plain and brutal."
Perfect opportunity for more sabre-rattling?
Actually, should the Home Ministry lose their appeal on Monday, the government can still appeal to Malaysia's apex Federal Court.
The same applies to the Catholic Church, which publishes the Herald. They too can appeal if the Appellate Court decides to overturn the High Court's decision.
Zahid is the current Home Minister, who had succeeded Hisham earlier this year. It was Hisham who had appealed against the High Court decision to uplift the Home Ministry ban in 2010.
Both ministers are also vice presidents in their Umno party and will be defending their veep posts on October 19. As such, both can be expected to politicize issues so as to bolster their popularity with their party members.
Indeed, in the past few weeks, Zahid's stock in Umno has jumped several folds and he now looks unbeatable in the race to be one of the party's 3 vice presidents. The 60-year-old enjoys near cult status after threatening to close down newspapers if they reported a controversial speech he made in Malacca. Zahid's speech, made to an audience of mostly Umno members, had been filled with racial and religious slurs and also contained a shocking admission that the police - who come under his ministry - opened fire at suspects without giving prior warning.
Hisham, on the other hand, is in for the fight of his life. Although Hisham, the former Home minister and now Defence minister, holds the advantage of incumbency, some believe Hisham may lose to challenger Mukhriz Mahathir, who is backed by his dad - the still powerful former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
As such, they expect Hisham to seize on every opportunity to burnish his Malay and Islamic credentials and thereby boost his chances at the Umno election.
Abhorrent and wholly unacceptable
Meanwhile, ultra Malay groups have vowed to demonstrate at the Palace of Justice court complex tomorrow. They have promised a 'peaceful' gathering, but with Christian groups also at the scene, there is some concern that things might get heated. The police are expected to be out in full force to control the crowds.
On Monday, the Court of Appeal is scheduled to deliver its decision on the appeal by the government against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgement made on 31 Dec 2009.
In that landmark ruling, High Court judge Lau Bee Lan had ruled that the Home Minister was wrong in placing a condition in 2007 on the renewal of the Herald's publishing licence that it cannot use the word ‘Allah' in its Malay-language edition.
Justice Lau, who received a death threat following her ruling, had said the Catholic Church had the constitutional right to use the word Allah because the freedom to worship was enshrined in Malaysia's federal constitution.
The latest 'spin' from the Najib government is that even if the Appeals Court decided in favor of the Home Ministry, the Allah ban would extend only to the Herald. Christians living in East Malaysia would not be affected and could continue to use Malay-language Bibles that carry the word Allah.
However, this reasoning has been slammed as 'double-standard' and rejected by the Christians as making a mockery of their faith.
Malaysia Chronicle
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.