Should any Malaysian be shocked that some pencil-pushing civil servant in the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) has decided to ignore the decision of the attorney-general on the sorry episode of seized Bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia?
Definitely not.
This is Najib's Malaysia where politicians shamelessly ignore evidence of corruption; where the top police officer ignores the decision of the High Court to enforce a court order and some royal households just ignore the law.
So why should anyone expect Umno-friendly Datuk Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa to obey the ruling by A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (pic) who noted that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had erred when it raided the BSM office on January 2 and seized some 322 Malay and Iban Bibles?
He knows that IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has refused to enforce not only a court order but also contempt of court citations against two men who refused to hand over their children to their former wives.
And Khalid has even unilaterally proposed to vary the court orders without as much as a slap on his wrist from his bosses – the home minister or the prime minister.
So Adzib knows that there is little downside to him questioning the government's chief legal officer and saying that the Bibles should not be returned to the BSM.
Instead, he said that Gani's decision in saying that Jais was wrong when it raided BSM and seized the Bibles was wrong.
"The reason given by the attorney-general in not prosecuting those involved will cause confusion among the Muslims...We are very concerned over any attempt to tarnish the sanctity of Islam by misusing Quranic terms or names," he said in a statement.
On Thursday, Gani released a statement saying that the BSM would not be prosecuted as the holy books did not contravene a section of the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation among Muslims) Enactment 1988.
The A-G added that the Bibles were not publications deemed as a threat to national security. He asked that seized Bibles be returned to BSM.
But Adzib has decided to challenge the authority of the office of the attorney-general.
Who is going to chide him?
Datuk Seri Najib Razak? Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim? The Sultan of Selangor? The attorney-general? Don't bet on it.
In Najib's Malaysia, even civil servants can ride roughshod over court orders, cabinet pronouncements and decisions of the attorney-general.
The message being sent to the everyday Malaysian is that we, too, should also treat government decisions and court orders in a cavalier fashion.
This is how anarchy takes root.
- TMI
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