So it is a crime, and may be a sin too, for Muslims to be seen in a Christian church, attending a multi-racial dinner held in aid of AIDS victims under the auspices of Harapan Komuniti. It was understood that no religious activity took place during the dinner event other than using the church as a venue for the gathering.
If Hasan Ali wants to talk about Christians proselytising their faith to the Muslims in attendance, then what about the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong attending the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 2011 at Westminster Abbey? During the ceremony in the church, there were sermons, hymn singing, prayers, Bible reading and the act of communion. By Hasan Ali's standards, I believe this could be considered "proselytising"? Will he send his JAIS officers to arrest our royal couple? How does he view the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong's accepting the invitation to attend a Christian wedding, and in a church too?
The other issue worth mentioning is Najib's meeting with the Pope who is the head of 1.3 billion Catholics, in Vatican City. How is this deemed okay but attending a charity dinner is not. Isn't Najib taking a risk that the Pope might be proselytising to him, albeit in a subtle manner?
Of course, Hasan Ali and JAIS have every right to protect the interests of Muslims in this country from being converted out of their religion, but could it not be done using a more professional approach. They want to make a search, the least they could do was to the obtain a search warrant to do the job rather than bursting into someone's private function and causing anxiety for every one. This is the 21st century and not the 1940s Germany where the country was ruled by the Gestapos. Where is the rule of law, anyway or is JAIS the law upon itself? Perhaps our learned counsels can advise whether the church can sue JAIS in return for trespassing and harassment.
As for MCA, they are up to their cherry picking antics again accusing the DAP for maintaining silent on the church intrusion. I guess everybody must have been taken in by their sudden concern but may I ask them, where were they when UMNO banned the use of the word "Allah" and why have they not spoken up on the matter until today? Where were they when two Al Islam reporter carried out a covert operations in a Catholic church and committed sacrilege by participating in the Holy Communion? Where were they when the Holy Bibles were confiscated? Where were they when the Holy Bibles were stamped and serial numbered? Where were they when the churches were set ablazed? They cannot say that they are unable to voice out because they are not Christians. I am sure there are many Christians who are members of MCA. In any case, I believe DAP was unable to speak out at that particular moment as the MB, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, has issued a gagged order till the matter is resolved. There are two things which he has to look into. First, awaiting the report from JAIS and second, meeting up with the Sultan for advice. Knowing that this is a sensitive issue, the sensible thing to do is to wait for the outcome of the report and the meeting with the Sultan before taking the next step.
My opinion is that Hasan Ali has to go. His behaviour is too 'UMNO'ish for anybody's liking, and this could be a fact because he was one of the proponents of the UMNO/PAS merger just after the 2008GE, and many suspect he could even be a Trojan horse of UMNO. Much goodwill has been built by PAS with the non-Malays in the last four years and it is a pity that it takes one man like Hasan Ali to destroy it all. From his behaviour and attitude, I don't believe he gives a damn for the goodwill policies of Pakatan Rakyat.
After the 'hate Christian' campaign in Penang, now it is Selangor's turn. However, the question that begs an answer is, why rock the boat now when the GE13 is so near. Is it Hasan Ali's motives to scuttle PR chance of retaining the state, and help UMNO in the process? Is that the reason for Selangor UMNO Information Chief, Shukor Idrus, to sound so confident that UMNO will recapture the state?
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