Allah banner for Iban Christian gathering removed by <b>Kuching</b> <b>...</b> |
| Allah banner for Iban Christian gathering removed by <b>Kuching</b> <b>...</b> Posted: 15 Dec 2013 08:03 AM PST
A banner with the word 'Allah' on it, was reportedly ordered by the police to be taken down at the Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia gathering at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Friday. Organisers of the four-day gathering, that began on Thursday and attracted about 7,000 people, were baffled when the security chief of the convention centre relayed the police order to remove the banner. The organisers said that no one from the police met with them personally. "The reason given was, 'It was too close to the road'," said Pastor Greman Ujang, chairman of the the Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia. "We were told that we could put the banner further inside the convention compound, which we did." He added that the security chief told him the instruction "came from the Commissioner of Police (CP)". Ujang said even though the instruction came from the CP, there should have been a written request or a police officer to explain the instruction. "I don't think the banner with the words, 'Allah Taala Engau Kita' (God is with us) is obstructing traffic." He said, since they did not want "to make a fuss out of it and be confrontational which could mar the gathering that had gone so smoothly," they complied and placed the banner nearer to the entrance of the convention centre. "We did not want trouble, but we also want to act within our rights," said one of the organising pastors who did not want to be named. "They said it is too close to the road. So we erected it away from the roadside. After all, we Christians in Sabah and Sarawak are, under the 10-point solution agreed on by government, allowed to still use the word 'Allah'." In 2011 just before the Sarawak state election, Putrajaya drew up the solution which allowed the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible, containing the word 'Allah'. The 10-point solution was to end a Home Ministry blockade of shipment of the Al-Kitab and other Christian publications which had the word 'Allah'. The pastor said whether the order came from the police or not, "somebody is unhappy with the word Allah" on the banner. "It must be ignificant and meant a lot to them. If it is not the word 'Allah', why would they want to trouble us?" Participants of the gathering, which ended this morning with a mass Sunday service, yesterday made a stand to press for religious freedom that was promised to them when Malaysia was formed 50 years ago. Ujang, in a statement, stated that when the idea of a federation of Malaysia was proposed in 1961, their forefathers initially expressed grave reservations on various issues relating to the well-being of their people under Malaysian rule, including freedom of religion. "The final decision to support the formation was made based heavily on the agreed 18-point agreement accorded to the people of Sarawak," he He said since the safeguards to continue practising their faith and religion are under threat, they were entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that these agreements and rights were protected and honoured. Christianity came to Sarawak in 1847 with the arrival of Anglican missionaries who carried with them Bahasa Indonesia Bibles. The Ibans, Sarawak's largest ethnic group, make up 52.6% of Christians in the state. Malaysia's Christian community recently made headlines when the Court of Appeal ruled last October to uphold the Home Ministry's decision to ban the use of the word 'Allah' in the Catholic Church weekly Herald. The court said the word 'Allah' was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith, overturning an earlier High Court decision that the ban was unconstitutional. The ruling, however, led to churches in Sabah and Sarawak being more vocal in pressing for their right to use the word 'Allah', as they represent the majority of the country's Malay-speaking Christians. The Catholic Church has since taken up their case to the Federal Court, with the hearing of the leave application to appeal fixed on February 24 next year.  |
| 'Allah' banner not allowed at <b>Kuching</b> Christian meet | Hornbill <b>...</b> Posted: 14 Dec 2013 11:00 PM PST
A banner bearing the word 'Allah' was asked by police to be brought down at a gathering of some 6,000 Iban Christians at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Friday. "The participants were surprised. We were embarrassed," said Patrick Sibat organising secretary of the gathering which was put together by the Gempuru Besai Kristian Jaku Iban (GBKJI). He added that they complied with the directive as it came, according to the police, 'from the top'. "It was even more embarrassing for us when observers from Christian natives groups from Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, India, Mongolia and Taiwan witnessed the whole thing", he said. They were in Kuching at the invitation of the Gempuru Besai Kristian Jaku Iban for the three-day gathering which began last Thursday. Representatives of various Christian denominations and all the ethnic tribes in Sarawak also took part. "The incident created a very bad image and sent a wrong message to those who came from other parts of the world, especially when we talked of full religious freedom as guaranteed in the 'special safeguards' included in the 18-point Malaysia Agreement," continued Patrick. "On one hand the prime minister assures of religious freedom in Sarawak, and on the other the police came and asked us to bring down the banner because it has the word 'Allah'. However. despite the police 'advice', they put up the banner again the next day, he said. The Court of Appeal in October had ruled that the word Allah could not be used by the Catholic Church weekly, The Herald, as 'Allah' was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith and that the use of the word would also confuse the Muslims. The ruling caused alarm and confusion among the Christians in Sarawak and Sabah, so much so that Najib and other federal leaders had to give their assurances that the ruling did not apply to the two states. Full religious freedom Meanwhile, in their five-point declaration, the GBKJI reminded Kuala Lumpur to honour its promise for full religious freedom made to the Iban in discussions with members of the Cobbold Commission of Inquiry for the formation of Malaysia more than 50 years ago. "When the federation of Malaysia was proposed in 1961, our forefathers initially expressed grave reservations on various issues relating to the well-being of our people under Malaysian rule, including freedom of religion," the GBKJI said in a statement. "The final decision to support the formation of Malaysia by the Iban tribe was made based heavily on the agreed 'special safeguards' or '18-point agreement' accorded to the people of Sarawak and contained in the Malaysia Agreement and the federal constitution," it added. About 75 percent of the Iban in 1962 agreed to Sarawak joining Malaya, Sabah and Singapore for the formation of Malaysia based on the 'special safeguards', according to the statement. The Christian Iban form about 52.6 percent of the total Christian population in the State, according to the 2010 population census. They first embraced Christianity 122 years ago at the time of James Brooke. Meanwhile, the three-day gathering ended with a mass Sunday service at the BCCK with more than 9,000 Christians in attendance. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from kuching - Google Blog Search To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |