Article 11 provides that every person has the right to profess and practice his own religion. Every person has the right to propagate his religion, but state law and, in respect of the Federal Territories, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among Muslims.
By the Guarantee alone, no one can stop anyone from practising their beliefs regardless of how small a minority is in the country, in a state, in a district or in a village. This guarantee is sacred as long as proselytisation to Muslims are restricted.
Therefore the action by a group of protesters who objected and threatened a church in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya not only violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution, they are also threatening the harmony and peaceful coexistence among the many races, religions and creed in Malaysia.
The group, which gathered at about 10am on Sunday while church service was going on, contended that the sight of the cross in a majority Muslim area challenged Islam and could influence younger minds.
Had the situation been reversed, where a group of non-Muslims protested against the existence or construction of a surau or mosque, there is no doubt that the relevant authorities would have reacted immediately to clamp down the situation.
In fact, the recent amendments proposed and approved by Barisan Nasional to the Sedition Act were supposed to specifically deal with such circumstances. It included the penalisation of any person who “promoted feelings of ill-will or hostility between persons or groups on the grounds of religion”.
However, in the above event where a group of Muslims protested against the existence of a Church, the authorities, be they the Government or the Police have not only failed to act, they have maintained a remarkable silence on the issue.
Just as the DAP has defended the right of any Muslim to have his or her place of worship even if they are a minority in a residential township or a village; any Christian, Buddhist, Taoist or Hindu must have the same right to set up their own without barriers or fear of intimidation. There should also be no restrictions against putting up crosses or religious statues as a representation of their faith.
While we remain adamant against the Sedition Act due to the ease of abuse against civil society critics, we call upon the proponents of the Act to state their position as to whether action should be taken against the protesters above. This is because the BN MPs defended the Act and the relevant amendments purely to deal with these types of exact issues.
Will MCA and Gerakan who had similarly defended the Act now demand action to be taken under the Act? Is this for example the “goodwill” promoted in the Act which the Secretary-General of Gerakan and MP for Simpang Renggam, Liang Teck Meng, proudly declared in his support of the Act?
Or will the above case only goes to show how the Act was constructed strictly targeted only against non-Muslims while Muslims who infringed on the rights of others will get away scot-free?
This issue isn’t closed despite the fact that the Church has voluntarily agreed to remove the cross from the building under threat and intimidation. The bigger issue is the fact that if the authorities do not act to protect the minorities in this country, the majority will just become big bullies and take similar actions against others who are just practising what is protected by our Federal Constitution.