Apologise for raid, Buddhist monk tells Jais

GEORGE TOWN (Jan 7, 2014): Malaysia and Singapore chief Buddhist monk Rev Dr Sumana Siri wants Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to apologise to Christian community over the bible seizure as its jurisdiction is for Muslims only.
"Jais had no legal jurisdiction. They need to apologise to the Christian community over this matter," he said at a press conference here today.
On Thursday, Jais seized more than 300 Malay and Iban bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia as they contained the word "Allah" in reference to God.
Sumana said "Allah" term which pre-date Islamic religion, is used in the Middle East by Arabic speaking Christians and Jews and is not banned in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, Malta and even Indonesia.
"Bahasa Malaysia bibles since 1612 had used the term and Catholics have used it since the 19th century," he said adding the Sikh's holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, also uses the term "Allah".
He said the ban of usage for the word would also cause confusion for Christians outside of Malaysia who have been using the term in their prayers.
"If something like this could happen to the Christian community here, the Buddhist community could be threatened as well," he said.
He also called on the public to heed the advice of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pleas not to be extremists.
"I also call on Selangor state authorities and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to carry out interfaith talks with various leaders.
This would help make the 1Malaysia concept more meaningful," he said.