KUALA LUMPUR, Friday 11 March 2011 -- DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today the detention of 30,000 Bahasa Malaysaid Bibles at by the authorities at the Kuching Port in Sarawak is serious violation of the cosntitutional rights of the Christian community.
The Penang chief minister pointed out in a statement that Article 11 of the Federal Constitution expressly allows every person the right to profess and practice his own religion.
Lim said that the east Malaysian Christians had been using Bahasa Malaysia in their worship, and depriving them of their holy scriptures in the national language is unconstitutional.
He such actions by the Najib administration exposes the hype of the so-called 1Malaysia as being just rhetoric hot air, with no real or significant meaning.
"Prohibiting the Bible just because it is published in Bahasa Malaysia is contrary to the position of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language. Religion should not be politicised, but is a matter of personal faith to be exercised by the individual, especially when there is no threat to other religions or to the peace and harmony of our country," Lim said.
Lim urges the federal government to release the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles immediately to preserve the peaceful and harmonious co-existence of the different religious faiths and cultural practices in the country.