Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Idris Ahmad has hit back at DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng over the latter's criticism that the former was threatening national unity, and also victim blaming in a sexual assault case.
The PAS leader asked if Lim was trying to fan racism while he was doing his job.
"Is (Lim) purposely trying to ignite racial flames and widen the religious gap by inciting non-Muslims to avoid the beliefs practised by Muslims?
"(Is he doing this) even though many non-Muslims understand the limits outlined in Islam and respect the stance and practices of Muslims?" he asked on Facebook yesterday.
This comes after Lim had seized on an analyst's views that the public perceived PAS ministers as incompetent, to take a swipe at Idris.
The former finance minister said Idris "brought no value" to his duties besides threatening national unity and religious harmony.
"Idris indulges in shaming the Muslim victim of sexual assault who went public but also seeks to interfere and disrupt the lifestyle, customary rights, and cultural practices of non-Muslims.
"Such moral policing does not bring any discernible benefits or improvement in public accountability with corruption still prevalent, or better governance with poor delivery of public services where even clean water is still lacking.
"Instead, Malaysia pays the price for being seen as extremist and racist," Lim said yesterday.
Idris defends remarks
The comments on victim blaming refer to the religious affairs minister's panned remarks on a child actor revealing that her father had allegedly molested her and subjected her to other forms of sexual harassment.
Idris had said that in Islam it was better to not disgrace oneself (menutup aib sendiri), and that such abuse should not have been exposed to the public.
He said the child actor should have instead lodged a police report.
Idris defended his remarks in his posting yesterday, saying it was slander to accuse him of shaming the child actor.
He pointed to a statement he made last week, explaining that he was concerned that the child actor would have exposed herself to danger by revealing her father's alleged offences.
However, he reiterated in the Sept 6 statement that a family's "shame" (aib) should be safeguarded as the youth will have a lot to go through.
In his remarks yesterday, Idris asked if it was wrong for him as religious affairs minister to use his religious knowledge to advise Muslims based on Islamic teachings.
Asked about Lim’s criticism, he said the opposition has no comprehensive idea, and thus resorted to finding faults.
Idris said he will instead focus on his work as a minister, saying there was much to do.
Among others, he said, there were many people who needed food and monetary aid which religious agencies delivered, as well as efforts to identify aid needs in other areas.
The government was also trying to foster brotherhood among non-Muslims, as part of Putrajaya's Keluarga Malaysia concept, he added. - Mkini
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