Children pose with a machine gun during the 80th Army Day parade in Kuala Lumpur on September 21, 2013. Terengganu today started arming its Islamic enforcement officers. — AFP picKUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Terengganu has stepped ahead of the country and armed its Islamic enforcement officers, urging other states to follow in its footsteps even as a federal minister sparked a furore yesterday when he proposed the security measure in the wake of the killing of a Pahang religious official.
The east coast state’s executive councillor Ghazali Taib said it is important that officers who are exposed to life-threatening risks be protected.
“Terengganu enforcement officers are supplied with firearms for safety reasons.
“I hope all other states will follow suit so that they have to tools to defend themselves,” he was quoted as saying today by Malay daily Sinar Harian.
Ghazali, who is chairman of Terengganu’s education, higher learning, innovation and special duties committee, was responding to the fatal shooting of Pahang Islamic Religious Department (Jaip) chief Ahmad Rafli Abdul Malek on Sunday.
He also suggested that enforcement and religious officers, who are at risk of being exposed to security threats, be moved into government housing with tight security to prevent untoward incidents.
“These measures will ensure their family members are safe.
“I recommend they be placed in government quarters or placed in a secure area with security features such as having a guard. The area will be patrolled by police periodically,” the Terengganu MP said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom was reported to have proposed arming religious department enforcement officers.
“We want the safety aspect to be upgraded. The enforcement officers can be given firearms during operations or we can have more patrols on their homes,” the minister in charge of Islamic affairs was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.
Police on Monday urged members of the “Tuhan Harun” religious sect to surrender over Ahmad Rafli’s shooting, which has been linked to the state’s ban on the Shiah denomination.
Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers have said proposing to arm Islamic enforcement officers over a shooting still under investigation was an overreaction that would exacerbate Malaysia’s struggle with gun violence.
Shootings and gun murders exploded into the nation’s consciousness in August when Arab-Malaysian Development Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi was assassinated in broad daylight by a gunman in Kuala Lumpur, just days after the chairman of crime watchdog MyWatch, R. Sri Sanjeevan, survived an attempted hit in Negri Sembilan on July 27.
Since then, Malaysians have grappled with growing violence that at one point saw daily shootings, both fatal and otherwise.
- malaymail
The wide range of Morpheus Security services offered by us includes guarding Morpheus Security Services in Delhi, Guard Services, Security Guards Company, Security Guard Services in India and Indian Security Guards.
ReplyDelete