I thought I have heard and seen it all.
But Malaysia’s top cop’s rationale that the church protest is not seditious, as it did not touch the Christian faith is ludicrous, to say the least.
And to further gloss over the issue, Khalid Abu Bakar says the residents were protesting against the location of the church.
This is really dishonorable coming from a man who promised to uphold the law without fear or favour.
Furthermore, Khalid should not be the one investigating into this matter as the case involves his brother. This gives rise to a conflict of interest.
I don’t need to tell him because Khalid already knows the protesters wanted the church to remove the cross. Their reason was that the church was in a majority Muslim area and therefore the cross will have to be taken down.
And let me assure the Inspector General of Police that the cross is a sacred symbol of the Christian faith.
The amendments to the Sedition Act clearly state that promoting ill will, hostility or hatred on grounds of religion is a seditious act.
Having said that, I am reminded that the Attorney-General’s Chambers too had previously acted with double standards as well when it let Perkasa chief, Ibrahim Ali, off the hook for instigating people to burn the Malay bibles, which had the word Allah in it.
Their statement said that Ibrahim was only trying to protect the sanctity of Islam.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has been crooning about a moderate Malaysia and at the ASEAN level, talks about shared values of moderation and tolerance between member countries.
Clearly his rallying cry is a sham. And to top it off Malaysia will be hosting the ASEAN Summit next week. I wonder what exactly Najib can bring to the meeting as the ASEAN chair.
Or we can give Najib the benefit of doubt and see if he will instruct the police headquarters, Bukit Aman, to re-evaluate the decision of the IGP.
So Mr Prime Minister, I am hopeful that you really mean what you say when you talk about moderation. Please don’t prove me wrong.