Govt urged to ensure religious rights of all
Published on: Thursday, June 22, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) President Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing urged the Federal Government to ensure the religious rights of all Malaysians are guaranteed and protected as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Federal Constitution.As such, he said any group, for example, the Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (Centhra), whose CEO called on the Government to outlaw and ban Christian evangelism in Malaysia, must be ignored and rejected."For Sabah, parallel to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Inter-Governmental Report of 1962 is the Batu Sumpah which forms part and parcel of all the other two international legal instruments that became the basis for the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
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"Although it only contains three articles, these three points stated in the Batu Sumpah encompass every fabric that makes up the entire socio-cultural and socio-economic life and activities in Sabah, the first of which is clearly stated, 'Ugama Bebas Di Sabah.' (Freedom of Religion in Sabah). Therefore, he said the call by Centhra for the Government to outlaw Christian evangelism clearly infringed the guarantees, an assurance which is not something that was just carved and crafted into the piece of stone, but instilled into it the meanings, the purpose, the spirit and the nationalism not just for the Sabah interior folks but for every original people of Sabah who propelled Sabahans into accepting to be part of the nations that make up Malaysia."I totally subscribe and respect the provision in the Constitution that prohibits other religions from proselytising the Muslim, and I fully honour the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation."However, this does not give licence to any group to call for the outlawing of any activities being carried out by other religions organised within the confines of their own religious activities.
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"Retrospectively, in the spirit of the Batu Sumpah, I hereby strongly urge the Government to instead outlaw and ban any group that seeks to dismantle and destroy the very fabric that keeps Malaysia together as a group of nations and ensure that Malaysia maintains its secularism," he said.Meanwhile, PCS Information Chief Ramdi Indang clarified that the party had not requested to join Pakatan Harapan (PH) as reported on Wednesday.
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"Our position is that we are willing to work together with all Sabah-based opposition political parties as well as the peninsula-based opposition parties. And the current level of discussion is on that level. "At the moment, we are still guided by what PCS President Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing had stated in his official statement released to the press soon after the Supreme Council meeting reached a decision to leave USA on April 28," he said.In the statement, Bumburing said the party "should and must play a prominent and important role in facilitating a formal discussion among all the opposition parties in Sabah, including those currently in USA, on the concept of forming an alliance (or an election pact) consisting of all opposition parties both Sabah-based and Peninsular-based. "PCS fully subscribed to the main objective for a total change at Federal level and at State level," he had said.Ramdi continued that PCS has always perceived that, given the current political scenario, no single opposition is in any solid position to topple the Umno-led BN government on its own. "It is therefore imperative that all opposition parties must sit together and come to an agreement to have an electoral alliance in order for a total change to be realised.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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