Police report against ranting Pembela

Muslim group's 'willing to shed blood against Christians who insult and ridicule Islam' statement, highly provovative, says lawyer.

PETALING JAYA: A distressed Christian lawyer today lodged a police report against Pembela (Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam) alleging their ranting at the national mosque recently were racially insidious and highly provocative.

Annou Xavier lodged a report at the Petaling Jaya police station over the NGO’s (a coalition of 20 Muslim groups) protest on Friday over the government’s handling of the Malay bible issue.

The group claimed that Christians had gone overboard in defending the Malay bible issue.

“Their statements on Friday are insidious, seditious and highly provocative. They are willing to disrupt harmony, cause hatred, and raise disaffection with Christians and among other peace loving citizens of Malaysia,” said Annou, who had the backing of eight NGOs.

In his police report, Annou cited a news article from online news portal, The Malaysian Insider (TMI), which reported that Pembela had “declared they were willing to shed blood against ‘extremist’ Christians who insult and ridicule the position of Islam in this country.”

TMI also reported that Pembela had urged “all Muslims leaders to unite against extremist Christians who challenged and insulted Islam”.

Annou said that such statements were a “warning” and a “threat” to peace loving Malaysians despite their differing religious believes.

Among the groups that endorsed Annou’s police report were Council of Churches of Malaysia Youth (CCM Youth), Civil Rights Committee of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-KLSCAH) and the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF).

Furore over Malay bibles

In a joint statement, the civil groups said that they were disturbed as Friday’s protest was carried by the international media and hoped that police would prevent “any future intimidation and threats of violence against one another in public spaces.”

The home ministry caused a furore when it seized 35,000 copies of the Al-Kitab in Port Klang (in 2009) and Kuching Port on Jan 12 earlier this year for being a threat to national security.

After a public outcry, the government agreed to release the 5,100 bibles held in Port Klang but not before stamping them with the home ministry’s “For Christians Only” seal and a serial number on each copy.

This angered the importers who refused to collect the bibles, with numerous Christian groups accusing the government of desecrating the holy books.

Earlier this month, the government issued a 10-point solution to solve the issue, and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak promised that the bibles will never again be impounded.

However, the solution has not pleased all parties as several Christian groups have rejected it.