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Tuesday 12 January 2010 (26 Muharram 1431)
9th church attacked as Malaysian row deepens
Romen Bose | AP
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Monday defended its refusal to allow
non-Muslims to use the word "Allah," as a dispute over the issue saw a ninth
church attacked in a spate of fire-bombings and vandalism.
The Sidang Injil Borneo Church in the central state of Negri Sembilan was
the latest to be targeted amid anger over a court ruling that overturned a
government ban on minorities using "Allah" as a translation for "God."
The church attacks which erupted last Friday have sent tensions soaring
in the multicultural nation, where the Muslim Malay majority lives alongside
ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam, who briefed foreign
diplomats on the crisis Monday, said they had asked why the term was off-limits
when it is widely used by Christians in Indonesia and the Middle East.
"They don't understand the situation here, they just want to know why it
can be allowed in other countries and not here," he told reporters.
"Be fair, you have to compare apples to apples, oranges to oranges. Our
landscape is different from other countries. Malays here are different from
(Muslims in) other countries.
The row flared after the High Court on Dec. 31 ruled in favor of the
Catholic newspaper The Herald, which argued for the right to use "Allah" in its
Malay-language section.
Malaysia's Christians say they have used the word without incident for
centuries, but the ruling party - which is vying for popularity among Muslims
with the opposition Islamic party - insists it must be used only by Muslims.
It says that the use of "Allah" by Christians could cause confusion among
Muslims and encourage religious conversion, which is illegal in Malaysia.
The ruling in the Catholic newspaper's favor was suspended last week
pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial
conflict.
Since Friday, churches have been pelted with Molotov cocktails, splashed
with black paint and had windows smashed with stones, triggering tighter
security at places of worship nationwide.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has called for calm and said the government
will not tolerate any threat to racial harmony.
Mahmood from the Home Ministry reiterated the government's condemnation
of the violence and said Malaysia would do "all in our power" to protect
religious freedom.
The row is one of a string of religious disputes in recent years that
have strained relations between Muslim Malays and ethnic Chinese and Indians
who fear the country is being "Islamised."
About nine percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Christians,
including some 850,000 Catholics. More than half of Malaysia's Catholics are
from indigenous groups, mostly from Borneo.
Azmi Sharom from the Universiti Malaya criticized the ruling United
Malays National Organization (UMNO) for stoking Malay nationalism in order to
protect its voter base, after 2008 elections where it lost unprecedented ground
to the opposition.
"The soil has already been prepared by UMNO... the tone has been very
much about the Malays being under threat' Sharom said, adding that the "Allah"
ban had no basis in theology.
"Instead of making a stand on principle, (UMNO) are trying to make sure
they don't lose appeal to their voters even if it means they are appealing to a
bunch of racists," he said.
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