DAP adviser Dr Chen Man Hin writes...

From cpiasia.net:)

Using Allah issue to boost fortunes of Umno backfired

Press Statements

Written by Dr Chen Man Hin

Monday, 11 January 2010 09:31

The scheme by Umno to boost its fortunes by using the ‘Allah’ controversy has backfired, and destabilised religious harmony in a multi-religious society. A campaign was launched by Umno to reverse a High Court judgment that ‘Allah’ could be used by The Herald, a Catholic weekly. It was supposed to be a brainwave – an excellent scheme to win back support for a flagging, misdirected Umno. What better than a sensitive issue like Allah? Conceive a plot to picture Umno as a saviour of Islam. Claim that the judgment by the High Court was wrong as it would confuse Muslims and make them susceptible to conversion to the Christian faith. Involve the PM and the Home Ministry to support the claim. Organise a day of protest rallies throughout the country, aided and abetted by the IGP with the police providing protection while the protests were held. All these moves were successful, too successful, so much so that emotions rose to a high among the extremists who proceeded to attack three churches. [Update: Four churches were firebombed, the fire in one of them gutted the ground floor] Now the powers that be have realised that the situation has turned dangerous. The three acts of arson were considered extreme, and the acts were condemned by the King and the Prime Minister. Condemnation is not the solution. What must be done is to undo the damage caused by willful misrepresentation of the High Court judgment. The fact is that ‘Allah’, the Arabic word for God, has been used for centuries in Arab countries by both Muslims and Christians. The other fact is that the free use of ‘Allah’ by both Muslims and Christians did not threaten the propagation of the Muslim faith nor the Christian religion. Back home, in Sarawak the term ‘Allah’ has been in use by Christian natives for over a century, long before the advent of Independence or the formation of Umno. The Muslims did not complain or protest until recently. This gives lie to the deliberately misleading claim by Umno and their supporters that the use of ‘Allah’ by the Christians in Malaysia would confuse Muslims and leading to conversions of Muslims to Christianity. How could such a fallacy be allowed to germinate and spread when the fact is that in Arab countries such a scenario never occurred over the centuries? Three churches have been torched. Umno and its followers must shoulder the blame. They must apologise. They must cease spreading false news to confuse the Muslims. A commission of enquiry should be held to get to the truth and the findings be recorded so that there will be no more repetitions of the shameful display of false propaganda and deliberate lies causing and provoking the burning of places of worship. Dr Chen is DAP adviser.