State assemblyman slams Khalid for being insensitive on Bible issue

SHAH ALAM: A state assemblyman today slammed Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim for being insensitive to the Bible seizure issue.
Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin who also expressed her disappointment over Khalid's "not concerned attitude" on the problems faced by the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), said: "The state government is not doing its job and I am disappointed that Selangor has passed the buck to the Attorney-General's Chambers to resolve the issue."
"If you (Khalid) are concerned, three months after the issue (Bible seizure) you won't say these kind of things," she said, adding that Khalid did not do his job on the issue.
BSM yesterday announced that they are moving their headquarters to Kuala Lumpur as the state government had failed to help return more than 300 Bibles in the Malay and Iban language seized by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) earlier in January.
In response, Khalid just wished BSM "good luck" and said that they were acting in accordance with the law, including the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, which banned non-Muslims from using 35 words including "Allah".
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Datuk Shamsudin Lias said it is good that BSM understood that they would have to abide by local laws if they chose to stay in Selangor.
"If they can understand then it's good, in Selangor there are laws that concern the propagation of other religions toward Muslims; the issue here is that the Bibles contain the word 'Allah'.
"It could be that they (BSM) want to avoid future conflicts, and if they respect the laws in Selangor then Alhamdulillah (praise to God)," he said.
Shamsudin also concurred that the enactment only bans the 35 words from being used to spread other religions toward Muslims and there is no issue if the word is merely being used to practice the religion.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Khalid should have taken a tougher stand and intervened in the Bible row earlier.
Speaking in a press conference at PKR's headquarters in Petaling Jaya today, he criticised Khalid's actions on the matter, saying that "the MB should have taken a tougher stance (and) the state government must take measures to appease the situation. You could have returned the Bibles but placed a strong condition that it cannot be distributed to Muslims."