1. Religious Liberty Watch (http://libertysentinel.wordpress.com)
Allah Lawsuits: Justice Delayed is Injustice Enforced, 3 January 2009
By nkw
I have earlier highlighted why the government policy of banning non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’ is indefensible on linguistics and historical grounds. It above all socially repressive. You may visit the following links to read my arguments.
- “No one Religion can Monopolize or Copyright the Term ‘Allah’ “LINK
- “The Semantics of the Word ALLAH” LINK
My concern in the present post is not to revisit the intellectual discussion but to point out why the government wants to avoid having the Court settle the lawsuits brought by the Catholic Church and the SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo) to confirm their right to use the word ‘Allah’ in their religious literature and in their liturgy
It is pretty evident that the government lawyers have resorted to various delay tactics in Court. The government has asked for various postponements of the cases on grounds it needs more time to prepare the cases. It has conspired with various Islamic bodies who have applied to become interested parties. Precisely because their applications are legally questionable, the Court is obliged first to settle their applications in a trial within a trial before the original case dealing with the right of non-Muslims to use the world ‘Allah’ can proceed further. Regardless, this results in much further delay and this suits the government just fine.
More seriously, the government has exploited the delay in the Court cases to enforce its repressive policy. This is evident in the latest report in Malaysiakini. LINK
“A Catholic newspaper has been ordered by the government to cease its Malay language edition until courts resolve a ban on the paper’s use of the word “Allah”, its editor said today. Herald newspaper editor Father Lawrence Andrew said the move was part of a series of restrictions put in place by the government when it renewed the paper’s licence on Tuesday.”
A later update from Malaysiakini LINK reports: “Murphy Pakiam (right), the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and publisher of the weekly newspaper, said in a letter to the Home Ministry that it had seven days to revoke its decision or face legal action.
He said he was “totally perplexed” over the suspension which “reeks of ill will and bad faith” and was effectively a punishment for the legal battle that is due to be settled next month.”
How true indeed!
The Court is theoretically supposed to come up with a decision next month. It would be surprising if the government does not ask for a further postponement. The Court will probably rule on some minor technicalities rather than deal directly with the core Constitutional issue of fundamental liberty and religious rights, But regardless of the decision, there will be an appeal to the higher Court and the long process of Court hearing starts all over again with further expected delay tactics from the government. It may take years before we arrive at the highest Court (the process costs the government nothing since the repressive bureaucracy is supported by our taxes but it will impose huge financial burden to the churches who brought the cases to the Court).
Meanwhile, pending the long-delayed settlement through the Court, the government continues enforcing its repressively policy against Christians with impunity. In effect the government is callously denying bumiputera Christians their right to use their primary language in practising their faith. As one Catholic leader emphasizes, “the ban did not make any sense because a large proportion of Catholics in Malaysia are bumiputera who mainly speak Malay…More than 50 percent of our congregation are bumiputera and two of our bishops are bumiputera.”
It has beed said that “Justice delayed is justice denied.” But the way the government has exploited the delays in the Court process to bring punitive measures against the Malaysian Christians is even more injurious - “Justice delayed is Injustice Enforced.”
2. New Straits Times Online (http://www.nst.com.my)
Church rejects 'Herald' permit conditions , 3 January 2009
KUALA LUMPUR: The Roman Catholic Church of Malaysia has rejected the three conditions imposed on it by the Home Ministry in the approval of the annual publishing permit of its weekly. The publishers of the Herald and Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam also planned to take the matter to court if the issue was not resolved by Friday.
In a letter of reply to the ministry, which was made available to the press, he criticised the conditions as "unreasonable", "irrational", "illegal" and "reeking of ill-will and bad faith".
The letter was addressed to the ministry's Publications and Quranic Text Control unit deputy secretary Abdul Razak Abdul Latif.
The ministry, in a letter received by Murphy on Dec 31 that gave the green light to publish the newspaper, laid down the following conditions:
- the publishing of the Herald in Bahasa Malaysia be stopped until the court decides on the move to seek a declaratory relief that it was entitled to use the word "Allah" in it;
- the publication can only be sold in churches; and
- the newspaper was only meant for Christians be printed clearly on the cover.
Murphy was perplexed by the first condition.
"We are unable to see how these two matters are related.
"Even if the courts dismiss our application for judicial review, that has no bearing on the publication in Bahasa Malaysia."
He said the condition was a serious violation of the constitutional freedom of expression and speech, adding that it also prohibited and/or diminished the rights of citizens to communicate in the national language, in contravention of the National Language Act 1967.
"Connecting the matter of publication in Bahasa Malaysia with the determination of the judicial review proceedings is not only grossly unreasonable, irrational and illegal, but also reeks of ill-will and bad faith in that this condition serves as a form of retribution or punishment on account of our filing of the judicial review."
Murphy said the Herald should be allowed to use the word "Allah" in its Bahasa Malaysia segment until the High Court decided otherwise.
He also took exception to the other two conditions.
"We wish to state that the Herald has always been made available only in Catholic churches.
"Further, the masthead 'Herald -- The Catholic Weekly' is self-explanatory and serves as sufficient notice to the world at large that it is a magazine meant only for Catholics in Malaysia."
Murphy asked the ministry to reconsider it's decision and revoke the conditions.
The ministry usually renews the weekly's permit months before the Dec 31 deadline.
This year, it renewed the permit only two days before the New Year.
Razak had warned that the ministry's enforcement unit would take action if the conditions were not met.
© Copyright 2009 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.
3. St. Francis Magazine (http://stfrancismagazine.blogspot.com)
Cultural battle against church in Malaysia , 3 January 2009
by JOHN STRINGER
Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam has asked the Home Ministry to revoke its ban on the Bahasa Melayu section of the Herald -- The Catholic Weekly, on the ground that this permit condition constitutes a "serious violation of our constitutional freedom of expression and speech".
The prohibition on the Bahasa Melayu section was contained in a ministry letter to Pakiam on Dec 30 which approved the weekly's annual publishing permit subject to three conditions. The other two were that the weekly could only be sold in churches and that the cover must carry the words "Bacaan ini hanya untuk penganut agama Kristian sahaja" (this reading material is only for Christians).
In a letter hand-delivered to the ministry today, Pakiam, who is also the publisher of Herald, said the ministry should reconsider its decision and revoke the ban within seven days, failing which which they will seek legal redress from the court.
Earlier, at a press conference in Putrajaya, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar declined to field questions on this matter.
Pakiam said they were "totally perplexed" over the ban pending the decision of the court concerning the use of the word "Allah".
"We are unable to see how these two matters are related. Even if the courts dismiss our application for judicial review in respect of the use of the word 'Allah' in the Herald, that has no bearing on the publication in Bahasa Malaysia," Pakiam said.
He said aside from the violation of the constitutional freedom of expression and speech, "it also prohibits and/or diminishes the rights of the citizens of this country to express themselves and communicate in the national language, in clear contravention of the spirit and intent of the National Language Act 1967".
He said the condition also serves as "a form of retribution or punishment on account of our filing of the pending judicial review proceedings in the High Court", and is thus "grossly unreasonable, irrational and illegal". He added that it also reeked of ill-will and bad faith.
He said the High Court had granted them leave to pursue the issue of whether they were entitled to use the word "Allah" in the Herald, especially in the Bahasa Malaysia segment. Therefore, they ought to be allowed to use the word until the High Court decides otherwise.
As for the other two conditions, he said they had always sold the Herald only in churches, and that there was no need to further state in the cover that the publication was only for Christians as the words "The Catholic Weekly" denoted that it was meant for Catholics.
In a separate statement, MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok urged Syed Hamid to review the decision made by the Publications and Quranic Text Control Unit, as it contravenes the Federal Constitution and creates resentment against the government.
She said the decision is unfair to those Christians who only read Bahasa Malaysia, and only worship God in the national language.
（End）
