Fury over Pas MP's Bible comment grows; Sabah MP demands apology
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Tourism, Arts, and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the Pas lawmaker had abused his position as a Member of Parliament by making hurtful comments against Christians in the August House NSTP/MALAI ROSMAH TUAH |
KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah federal minister has called on the Perikatan Nasional (PN) leadership to act against Pasir Puteh Member of Parliament Nik Muhammad Zamawi Salleh, whose recent remarks on the Bible sparked outrage among the nation's Christians.
Tourism, Arts, and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the Pas lawmaker had abused his position as a Member of Parliament by making hurtful comments against Christians in the August House.
"Zamawi should not have brought his bigotry to the August House, where we are supposed to uphold and defend the highest law of the land – the Federal Constitution.
"Article 3 (1) and Article 11 (1) guarantees every citizen of the Malaysian Federation the right to religious freedom, as well as to practice their respective faith in peace and free from prejudice and threats.
"Article 11(5) makes exception to these rights when they threaten public order, such as making seditious statements or hurting the sensitivity of a group of people," he said in a statement, today.
Zawawi had said biblical injunctions against drinking alcohol had been "distorted or altered" during a Parliamentary debate last week on a proposal to toughen penalties for drink driving under the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2020.
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Pasir Puteh Member of Parliament Nik Muhammad Zamawi Salleh NSTP/FARIZUL HAFIZ AWANG |
The remark upset Christians, associations and politicians, who called on Zawawi to retract his statement and make an open apology.
The Pas lawmaker, however, refused to apologise, claiming his statement was "a fact" and that Christians should not be offended.
Jeffrey stressed that Zawawi's response that Christians have no right to be offended underscores his lack of Malaysian spirit.
"As a leader and lawmaker, upholding the peace and law of the land is paramount. I had hoped to address this behind closed doors to spare Malaysians irreversible feelings of resentment and suspicion... (against other) races and religions.
"This is a divisive issue... I would like to call upon our Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as President of PN to take appropriate action against Zawawi.
"Lest Zawawi forgets, Sabahans and Sarawakians do not subscribe to such extremism," he added.
This idiot is an ignorant and pompous - he thinks he has been correct thus does not see the need to recant. In any language he can be called '@$$h%le', wakakaka.
But I wonder whether there is any value in demanding he apologise, because if he does he will not be sincere at it.
Take foreign mamak Zakir Naik's outrageous and audacious insult of Malaysian citizens. When he eventually was forced to apologise he said:
"It was never my intention to upset any individual or community. It is against the basic tenets of Islam, and I would like to convey my heartfelt apologies for this misunderstanding."
Puhleeeze lah, don't drag Islam into your blunder as a sarong for your impertinent insult to Malaysians, you eff-ing foreigner.
Ya, where's the sincerity of that Mamak Muslim? So is there any point in making Nik Muhammad Zamawi Salleh make an insincere apology?
i think we shd allow all to comment pertaing to religion, no more taboo be it christianity, buddhism, hinduism n islam. everyone shd be given the right to state his opinion. as a buddhist, i believe many thing buddha said is fiction, especially those relate to metaphysical, even a 7 yrs old know he tokkok.
ReplyDeleteYet u r indulging in sexbots & the Tantric traditions of Tibetan Buddhism in yr voyeurism!
DeleteTruly one mfering gatal Buddhist.
The thing is that the government is complicit in this kind of behaviour.
ReplyDeleteIn Singapore, even the majority Chinese have been penalised when making degoratory remarks about the minority race or religion ie Malay/Islam and Indian/Hindu.
That is because despite some failings, at least the Singapore government tries to be fair to the minorities.
But here in Malaysia, when any muslim commits a wrong against the non-muslims, the muslim ministers have a lot to excuse that kind of behaviour. Remember the cow-head incident?