Religious leaders in the country are called to
organise a dialogue over the use of the word ‘Allah’
issue to prevent tension from rising further.
Datuk Philip Lasimbang of
Upko, in making the call yesterday, said that
the dialogue must be initiated by the religious
leaders immediately in order to tone the
situation down.
A series of attacks on
churches in several parts of the country have
taken place following the High Court decision on
December 31 allowing the use of the word by a
Catholic weekly, Herald.
“The leaders must stand up
and explain the real situation because they know
religious matters better. We should not let
individuals with little knowledge about
religious matters to speak up as they will only
deteriorate the situation we are facing now,”
he said.
He said an open dialogue
should not be used as a forum for the leaders to
determine who was wrong or right but rather to
promote understanding and acceptance despite the
differences in religious practices.
“I’m happy that we
Sabahans are more matured in our reaction over
the matter and hope that this will prevail for
the good of everyone,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Transport
Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri joined other
leaders in condemning the church attack
incidents and advised the people not to allow
themselves to be influenced by acts of extreme
violence.
He said such extreme acts
could turn into sectarian violence and cause
huge losses to the country.
He believed the matter would
eventually be resolved if people were to learn
to tolerate one another.
Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) Secretary Teo Chee Kang called on the
police to treat the arson attacks on churches
with utmost urgency and to bring the culprits to
justice immediately.
He said the recent series of
arson attacks on churches in Peninsular Malaysia
had damaged the peace and harmony long in
existence in Malaysia.
“I condemn the barbaric
acts obviously by those motivated by religious,
social or political differences in our country.
These unfortunate incidents have shown that
religious and racial sentiments can be so easily
stirred up, and if left unchecked, can destroy
the harmonious co-existence of our multi-racial
and multi-religious people, the very foundation
on which our nation is built,” he said in a
brief statement issued here yesterday.
