PETALING JAYA: PAS is demanding an apology from the New Straits Times (NST) over an article it published, alleging that the contents were slanderous towards the party and its Selangor commissioner, Ahmad Yunus Hairi.
NST had published an article titled “PAS goes against Selangor Sultan saying Muslims can’t visit churches, temples”, on March 27.
PAS alleged that the NST article was done in bad faith with the intent of tarnishing Yunus’ image and jeopardising his relationship with the palace.
“We demand that NST apologise openly and retract the article that slanders PAS and its Selangor commissioner.
“Failing which, we will not hesitate to lodge a police report and take legal action,” Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahrir said in a statement.
Roslan added that Yunus’ statement on March 26 reaffirmed the Selangor Islamic Religious Council’s (Mais) stand that Muslims were prohibited from visiting non-Muslim houses of worship such as temples, churches and gurdwaras to learn about their religions.
Mais had issued the statement in the wake of the controversy sparked by a programme under the youth and sports ministry to foster greater understanding among youths of other faiths. This programme has since been cancelled.
Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had on March 26 defended the stance taken by Mais, saying it was “correct and clear” as the council was merely protecting the faith of Muslims by highlighting programmes that “persuade Muslims to be inclined towards or to be interested in other religions”.
However, he also said there was nothing wrong with Muslims attending a wedding or a wake held at a church, as long as they did not take part in the rituals. - FMT
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