Wan Junaidi’s remark on Allah issue is “complete trash”, says Tony Pua

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic) has been taken to task by a DAP leader over his statement that the decision by the Court of Appeal on Monday prohibiting the use of the word Allah was only applicable to Catholic weekly Herald.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said Wan Junaidi's statement was merely an attempt to salvage votes for Barisan Nasional in Sarawak, and dismissed it as "complete trash"

"The Deputy Home Minister is talking complete and utter rubbish, putting up the most illogical of defences for the government," said Pua, the DAP national publicity secretary.

He said the judgment by the Court of Appeal did not specify that the use of Allah was prohibited only in Herald but also banned the use of the word by all other religions.

“In fact, the chairing judge Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali clearly stated in his written judgment that ‘the most possible and probable threat to Islam, in the context of this country, is the propagation of the other religions to the followers of Islam’,” said Pua.

He said Apandi's argument enforces exclusivity of the word Allah to Muslims only, and reminded that East and West Malaysia fell under the same set of laws.

Pua said the judges went to the extent of making historical and theological interpretations of the bible claiming that God has always been known as "Yahweh" in the Bible, "Allah" in the Quran and "Vishnu" the God in Vedas.

This, according to Pua, showed the Court of Appeal has decided that bibles in all languages will not be allowed to use the word "Allah".

"This will definitely affect the millions of Christians in Sabah and Sarawak who use the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia bible," he said.

Yesterday, The Malaysian Insider reported Wan Junaidi as saying that the ban on the use of the word Allah only applied to the Herald, and not other Christian publications or Al-Kitab, the Malay-language bible widely used in Sabah and Sarawak.

Wan Junaidi cited the Cabinet decision to allow the use of the word Allah in Bahasa Malaysia or native language bibles in Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the assurance given by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in 2011.

He said that the Allah case was not over yet as there would be an appeal to the Federal Court.

Wan Junaidi further said that a decision by the Federal Court could change everything, but reminded that it could still be over-ridden by a political decision. He also said the decisions by the courts were case laws which were not enforceable, or not statute laws.

To this, Pua asked: “If that is the case, why go to the court to seek justice? Does it mean that if the Herald was to disobey the ruling, no agencies will be able to enforce it on them?

Pua said while the parliament enacts laws, the court will follow and interpret them.

"Once interpreted, the enforcement agencies, including the police will certainly act in accordance to their interpretations," stressed Pua.

Wan Junaidi's statement also prompted a sharp response from a constitutional law expert, who said the deputy minister was ignorant of the law.

Dr Abdul Aziz Bari said the government cannot simply ignore a decision by the court.

"If they wish to minimise or avoid the effect of the decision, they have to do it through legislation, namely table a bill in parliament," Abdul Aziz told The Malaysian Insider.

Pua meanwhile said the BN government has impeded on the constitution's guarantee on freedom of religion by taking an extreme stand in an attempt to regulate religions in the country.

“The Sabah and Sarawak members of the administration and parliament have played the subservient roles to Umno despite being the fixed deposit for BN over the last two elections.

“In doing so, the East Malaysian MPs have betrayed civil rights and freedom of ordinary Sabahans and Sarawakians to the far-right religious extremists in Umno,” he said.

Pua urged East Malaysian ministers to unite and fight what he called the fundamentalist uprising in the country to ensure that the constitutional rights of all Malaysians are protected. – October 16, 2013.