MIC, Gerakan condemn church attack

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28, 2014): The MIC and Gerakan have expressed their unhappiness over the senseless Molotov cocktail attack on a church in Penang.
MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said he was disappointed over the incident that occurred at the Church of the Assumption at Lebuh Farquhar in George Town.
"All places of worship are sacred, be they mosques, churches or temples. Attacking a place of worship will hurt the sentiments of everyone," he added.
Palanivel wants tighter security enforced around religious places.
Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong also condemned the incident, describing it as the action of an "irresponsible extremist".
"No matter how emotive an issue is, violence or physical force is wrong and threatens national security. Gerakan strongly condemns such a senseless attack and urges the police to probe the matter immediately. We can have disagreements but violence is not an option," he said.
He urged all parties to exercise restraint and not aggravate the situation by politicising the issue.
In PENANG, the public has expressed shock and sadness over the Motolov cocktail attack on the Church of the Assumption early Monday morning.
Lecturer Andrew Ng said he was shocked and frightened that such an incident had happened in the state.
He expressed hope that the authorities would quickly investigate the matter and arrest the culprits.
"It will be a shame if Christians need to be escorted by police on Sunday morning to church," he said.
A project executive, 28, from Bukit Mertajam, who only wanted to be identified as Kristina, said: "As a Christian, I feel sad about the incident, but as a Malaysian, I would feel the same way if any place of worship was attacked."
Meanwhile, Penang City Parish priest Rev Father Dominic Santhiyagu said that the church prays that peace and harmony will prevail at all times, despite the attack.
In KUCHING, Parti Rakyat Sarawak president and Sarawak Land Development Minister Tan Sri James Masing said the Molotov cocktail incident was expected.
"When a religious issue is argued, it invokes emotive responses," he said in a text message to theSun today.
"Religious provocateurs will take the opportunity to create problems ... maybe to prove a point. I don't agree with the hanging of such (banners) in public, especially now," he said in a statement.