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Selangor MB gives A-G one month on seized Bibles issue

Khalid enggan ulas mengenai bakal penggantinya

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has given the Attorney-General one month to respond to a letter from the state exco on the 320 Bibles seized by religious authorities in January.

"If we do not receive a response by then, I will meet with the A-G," he said in Shah Alam today.

Khalid (pic) reportedly said recently that state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong had written to the AG’s office on the sized bibles but had yet to get a response.

He came under fire from lawmakers and lawyers following the statement, and was criticised for delegating it to the exco instead of being proactive and meeting the A-G to resolve the issue.

The Bibles, in the Bahasa Malaysia and Iban languages, were seized on January 2 from the Bible Society of Malaysia premises in Damansara Kim by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department as it contained the word Allah.

The usage of the word, which means God in Arabic, is banned among non-Muslims in the state under the state's Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment 1988.

In early January, the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) raided the offices of the Bible Society of Malaysia in Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya, before seizing more than 300 copies of Malay and Iban-language Bibles.

Jais claimed they were acting under the state's Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation among Muslims) Enactment 1988.

Last month, Khalid gave assurances that the confiscated Bibles were in good hands.

He said no action would be taken until Gani responds to a correspondence from the Selangor government.

Disappointed after two months of waiting for action from the state government, BSM has decided to relocate to Kuala Lumpur.

BSM former president Lee Min Choon had said that Kuala Lumpur offered protection for minority groups in line with the 10-point resolution set by Putrajaya, which among others allows the import, use and printing of Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia.

BSM has also decided to change the distribution point of Bibles in peninsular Malaysia, opting to use the port in Penang.

Meanwhile, three Selangor state assemblypersons have urged that subsection 9 of the 1988 enactment be studied and reviewed.

Selangor DAP deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo said Khalid should be more proactive and meet Gani instead of waiting for a response.

"Pakatan Rakyat is not completely confident of Abdul Gani," he added. – June 4, 2014.