Anwar: Christian threat is Umno propaganda

S Pathmawathy | Mar 28, 2012
Malaysiakini

Pakatan Rakyat condemned the latest move to instil fear of the threat of Christianisation in the country, blaming it as tactic by Umno to “frighten” the Muslim Malay majority.

“I want to state, the all mighty in Malaysia is Umno – Umno is in charge of religion, Umno is in charge of the finances – so if the allegations (of attempt to spread Christianity) is true, that means it is Umno that failed to strengthened the faith of the Muslims,” said opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“What I can confirm is that this is nothing other than a disgusting political manoeuvre to use religion to frighten the people,” Anwar said.

Speaking at a press conference at Parliament today, Anwar pointed out that if a movement exists to threaten the faith of the Muslims, then there are adequate legal measures that can be taken for transgressing the law.

He was responding to a letter on a seminar organised by the Johor Education Department the coming Saturday titled ‘Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?’ (Strengthening Faith, Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?).

The letter addressed to primary and secondary schools heads in the Johor Baru district, required two religious teachers from 55 schools in the district to attend the seminar.

Drawing similarities to past claims of proselytisation of Muslims, Anwar said that the relevant authorities have failed to furnish evidence.

Last year, the Selangor Islamic Department gatecrashed an event organised by Harapan Komuniti at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church’s (DUMC) Dream Centre based on a tip-off alleging proselytisation among attendees.

Jais found 12 Muslims among the crowd but the organiser had denied any allegations of trying to proselytise Muslims, stressing that it was a fundraising dinner for the HIV support group.

Prior to that a controversy broke after several DAP leaders were accused of hatching a plot with pastors to establish Christianity as the country’s official religion.

Not proper to ‘politicise religion’

PAS vice-president Husam Musa, who was also at the leadership council meeting, reminded the government that it is not proper to “politicise religion”.

“If we are truly concerned, we would provide more for missionary work, heighten awareness and correct faith. We would stop corruption and mismanagement,” said Anwar, adding that such seminars would only create tension between faiths.

“We will advise Muslims in the country to be wary on this issue. As Pakatan (and) as Muslims (we) will continue to adhere to Islamic principles (and) maintain excellent rapport and working relationship,” he said.

DAP’s parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said the seminar is at odds with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s call for “moderates of the world to unite against extremists”.

“This is creating suspicion and distrust among the religions. The Christian leaders have called for proof because they made it clear about their sensitivities and the need to maintain religious harmony,” said Lim.

Such programmes will only “lead to greater racial polarisation”, he said, urging for quick measures to be taken to resolve the issue.

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12 Replies to “Anwar: Christian threat is Umno propaganda”

  1. What an outright low down mess this country is in today and we have only the PM and his useless comrades for allowing all of these moral & social decadence to fester and now rear its ugly head uncontrollably.

    UMNO, hear this- Malaysians are not as foolish as you may wish us to be. We can detect the political agenda behind this drive and no degree of feigning ignorance by you will deceive us. Is this truly that much anticipated ‘dirtiest of dirtiest’ tactics that you are now dishing out for your most desperate battle to grapple onto whatever meagre crumbs you can get out of GE13?

    That you would delve in and tread on the notion of defending faith (and you even think you defend God?) against another peace-and-love embracing faith is really coming to the very last straw of all all your other lowly and undemocratic (dare I say unGodly) tactics beyond your usual money and gutter politix, bribery, cronyism and misuse of powers and breaches of trust.

    Hear this, even true God-fearing Muslims who know what it means to practise firm faith and to live in harmony and love with another person regardless of race, religion and creed have spoken and have joined in to denounce these lowly yet self-righteous acts.

    Malaysians are speaking up, Christians and Muslims alike and in unison, we are speaking to all the irresponsible & arrogant people in leadership who are allowing such demented ideologies to prolong even abit longer – be accountable to Malaysians and address this matter immediately.

    Has BN/UMNO come to a predicament of whether to be removed by the Rakyat by mercy, or to be removed by God by grace?

    It is time all Malaysians wake up from slumber and see and ACT in unity to deal with such a serious bane that is hampering the progress and health and peace of our beloved Malaysia.

    Christianity, not even Islam or any other religion can ever be a threat to one’s belief. It can never be. Deceit is a threat! Greed is. Corruption is. Cronyism is.

    UMNO/BN is a threat to even those whose faith and mind is weak.

  2. Without any doubt, the BN gomen is hanging by the lies and scare-mongering it has created and in-line with that objective, they deliberately kept the majority of the population from the rural area illiterate as far as international information and knowledge gathering is concerned. Just at the Hasan fellow, he spins his tales more like Stephen King than a sincere missionary trying to salvage the souls. All these characters have NEVER say anything on corruption; the conclusion is never in doubt. Their propaganda actually insults the Muslim religion by insinewing that Muslims are helpless and can’t even think for themselves? After over a generation of such bull-shitting, we can never be surprise when such talks still sell among the most ignorant minds. It does not sound right? This is the 21st Century! But well they still have followers! So one must only conclude that after Malaysians have been able to score As in their eamination on year 11th, they could still be easily taken for a ride! Yes, we must really worry about evrtything in this country!

  3. The event is supposedly organised by the Johor Mufti and Education Departments which requires the attendance of two religious teachers from each of the 55 schools across Johore state. Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong said he was not aware of the seminar. It raises the question whether the govt is, at any one time in full control of its bureaucrats and teachers inclined to extremist views. Anwar said this was a tactic by Umno to “frighten” the Muslim Malay majority…” Well put it this way, if the UMNO led govt does and keep doing nothing overt and public to discourage/disapprove this kind of provocation an initiatives that tend to polarize Malaysians of different faiths, it will be deemed to have acquiesced and supported it! Which is why it is difficult to understand its calculations. There is a limit to the extent by which such bogey tactics can recover support of UMNO’s traditional Muslim Malay constituency that are split between incumbent and opposition The 13th GE’s outcome may depend on the swing vote by Christians who are 9% of population with some 900,000 in BN’s fixed deposit states of Sabah, Sarawak alone. They are not likely to take kindly to being made bogeyman! So why would UMNO want to risk their alienation? Unless all these are initiatives by groups that the govt and authorities do not or dare not control! Kit said that the seminar was at odds with Najib’s call for “moderates of the world to unite against extremists”. Maybe he has asked for moderates (whether of the world or domestically) to unite precisely because neither he, the govt nor authorities have effective control over extremists that have embedded themselves at various levels of bureaucracy and NGOs here.

  4. Like vernacular education being accused of being in the way of unity, this is also a made-up problem to distract the Malays from real issue of performance of UMNO leaders. God forbid the Malays ask their UMNO leaders where are their share of good jobs, quality education, affordable housing, public transport etc..

  5. This is one big lame issue which umno is attempting to kick some life into. Carry on umno.

    Here is something more news worthy:
    BBC Tech News, 28 March 2012:

    EU acts to end ‘rip off’ roaming charges.

    By July this year mobile firms will be forced to lower the prices of making a call or downloading data abroad.

    Under new rules agreed by the European Parliament, consumers will pay no more than 29 cents (24p) per minute to make a call and 70 cents (59p) per megabyte for data downloads across Europe.

    Many customers have faced bills for thousands of pounds after falling foul of current high roaming charges.

    “Consumers are fed up with being ripped off,” said commissioner Neelie Kroes.

    The European Commission vice-president for the Digital Agenda added: “The new roaming deal gives us a long-term structural solution with lower prices, more choice and a new smart approach for data and internet browsing.”

    Currently, the limit on what can be charged for making a call is about 30p and sending a text 9p, but there is no cap on what companies can charge per megabyte of data. Under the new rules the cost of sending a text will fall to 7.5p.

    Bill shock

    By July 2014 customers will also be given the option to shop around for the best deal and sign up for a separate mobile contract using their existing number when going abroad.

    They will also have the option to directly select a local mobile network in the country they are visiting.

    The new roaming charges will progressively go down and by July 2014 the aim is that roaming consumers will pay no more than 19 cents (15p) to make a call and 20 cents (16p) per megabyte of data. The cost of receiving a call will fall to 5 cents (4p) and sending a text to 6 cents (5p).

    For citizens travelling outside the EU, there are plans for better information about roaming charges to avoid “bill shock”.

    From July this year, people will get a warning text message, email or pop-up window when they are nearing 50 euros (£41) worth of data downloads

    The new rules come at a time when users are consuming ever more data on mobiles and tablet devices. As 4G networks offer even faster download speeds, data consumption is expected to rise exponentially.”

  6. Syabas to Bishop Paul Tan for his courage and wisdom to voice out against anti-Christian propaganda and false accusations from UMNO which will ruin the fabric of religious and racial harmony in Malaysia. On the other hand, it is quite a disappointment that Archbishop Murphy Pakiam has been silent over many issues.

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