Cops to probe into false claims of Selangor closing tahfiz schools

 

The allegations that some 200 religious schools in Selangor were ordered to close are being investigated by the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said the investigation was carried out after the authorities received three reports made in Perak recently.

“The investigation involves Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988,” he said when contacted by Malaysiakini today.

Hussein (above) said this over claims by parties that a warning had been issued to private religious schools and ordered to vacate the premises.

This was previously denied by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Mohd Na’im Mokhtar who said that the claims were baseless and the accusations were made by irresponsible parties.

Na’im added that, following a fatal fire incident at a private religious school in Kuala Lumpur in 2017, the Selangor Private Religious School (Tahfiz Institution) Registration Guidelines were developed and enforced from Jan 1, 2021.

Legalisation, not closure

Yesterday, Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah decreed the police to track down those who spread the allegations.

In his decree, Sultan Sharafuddin emphasised that the parties must stop or face legal action.

“If they continue this act of slander and treachery, I appeal to the police to immediately track down this group of slanderers and take legal action against them.

“In fact, I have ordered that legalisation measures be taken against private tahfiz schools that are not registered, and ensuring registration to be done so that these schools are safe in terms of their safety features and have a comfortable learning environment for students to gain knowledge,” he said.

His statement followed the 70th meeting of the National Council for Malaysian Islamic Religious Affairs at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque in Shah Alam.

The Selangor state government had denied allegations that the closing of the private religious schools in the state was linked to DAP.

It explained that it was on the decree of Sultan Sharafuddin who wanted all the institutions involved to be registered under the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais).

According to the Selangor government, the legalisation guidelines for religious schools (tahfiz institutions) have been raised since the beginning of 2021 in order to prevent incidents such as deadly fires in the institutions.

Under the guidelines, private religious schools are required to comply with some safety standards.

In the meantime, Sultan Sharafuddin also ordered that private tahfiz and private institutions that have not been registered with the state Islamic religious authorities to immediately do so. - Mkini