Noh: Umno did not breach ban on Church protest

Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar has defended the presence of his party members at a protest opposing the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians in Klang today despite the an earlier order for them not to do so.

 

Noh explained that the directive had specifically instructed members not to protest in front of Churches but did not bar them from attending such protests elsewhere.

 

"Umno Selangor has fulfilled its promise by disallowing its members to protest in front of churches.

 

"If they (members) want to protest at a field or  in front of (The Herald editor) Lawrence Andrew's house, that is their right, but not in front of a Church.

 

"We do not want to disturb Christians during their worship," he toldMalaysiakini when contacted.

 

The protest, which was initially to take place in front of the Lady of Lourdes Church, was relocated to a Sultan Sulaiman Club field about 1km away.

 

Noh: Church not under threat

 

The demonstration was organised by Sekretariat Solidariti Muslim Klang to protest Lawrence's insistence that Christians continue to use the word 'Allah' despite religious authorities imposing a ban following a decree by the Selangor Sultan to that effect.

 

They claim the word 'Allah' is exclusive for Muslims.

 

The Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) had also raided the Bible Society of Malaysia on New Year' Day and confiscated Malay and Iban language Bibles which used the word 'Allah'.

 

Responding to a group of Muslims who had gone the Church this morning to show solidarity, Noh (left) said the Church was never under threat to begin with.

 

"We did not stop Christians from their worship or using whatever language they want, we are only questioning the use of the word 'Allah'," he said.

 

Exco: Blame home ministry

 

Meanwhle, Selangor exco member in charge of religious affairs Sallehen Mukhyi hit out at the protest, saying that if Umno took issue with the usage of the word 'Allah', they should take it up with the Home Ministry instead of Christians.

 

"Bibles with the word 'Allah' can come in (the country) because the home ministry allowed it in the first place.

 

"So they should demonstrate at the home ministry instead which is the source of how such Bibles can come in," he said.

 

Sallehen (right) added that Umno should not attempt to gain political mileage from this tussle by protesting and instead portray themselves as Muslims who love peace and harmony.

 

"There is no need to protest, they (Umno) can discuss this with their own ministers to settle the issue amicably," he said.

 

The government had prior to he 2011 Sarawak election presented a 10-point solution where Bibles with the word "Allah" can be freely circulated in East Malaysia but require a "For Christians only" stamp in peninsula Malaysia.

 

However, critics have argued that the government has recently been reluctant to uphold the 10-point solution.