GEORGE TOWN: A police report has been made by the information officer in the Penang Chief Minister’s Office on a slanderous statement linking Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow with the administration of the Islamic religious affairs and mosque administration in the state, that has been viral for the past few days.
The report was made by Zahar Zainul at the Northeast district police headquarters in Jalan Patani here with the presence of Jelutong MP RSN Rayer.
Zahar said the report was made to get the police to investigate and take actions against irresponsible parties spreading the defamatory statement.
“We view that statement is directed at the chief minister. He has never made any decisions on the administration of the Islamic religious affairs in the state,” he told reporters after lodging the police report yesterday.
Zahar also said that kind of statement could cause tension and unrest among the various races in Malaysia.
“This is about slander and slander relating to religions is the most sensitive issue in Malaysia, thus such matter cannot be allowed to spread,” he said.
He was also asking the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to investigate and take actions against the irresponsible parties that started the slanderous statement.
The defamatory statement said: “The majority of the residents in Penang are non-Muslims and the noise from the mosques in the morning disturbs non-Muslims who are sound asleep as well as affecting public order. As such, the DAP government is limiting prayer activities in the mosques and Subuh prayers would not be permitted completely.” The statement is accompanied by an image of Chow.
The spread of the slanderous statement was allegedly related to a notice on the operation hours of the Jalan York Mosque here that will be limited from 9.30am to 9.30pm daily effective Dec 31, which has since gone viral.
In the notice, Muslims who want to perform Subuh and Isyak prayers (after 9.30pm) are advised to go to Masjid Jamek Shaik Eusoff in Datuk Keramat.
However, the Penang Islamic Religious Council (MAINPP) president Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim in a statement Sunday stressed that the notice on the operating hours of Jalan York Mosque, which was issued by the mosque chairman, as invalid based on regulations ‘Kaedah-kaedah Jawatankuasa Kariah (Negeri Pulau Pinang) 1997’ (Penang Kariah Committee 1997) - Method 35 on the functions of mosques that states mosques have to be open for at least five prayer sessions daily.
Meanwhile, Jalan York Mosque chairman Datuk Dr Basheer Ahamed Abdul Kareem was reported as saying that the Jalan York Mosque was frequently vandalised. - Bernama
