YOURSAY | ‘The police by the very nature of their duties must be neutral and be seen to be so.’

Wrong answer on why PDRM backed anti-Christian forum


 

 

IGP: Legal for cops to give talk against Christian conversion

  Lamborghini: Inspector-general of police (IGP), the police can be anywhere and everywhere if it is to guard the peace and provide help and protection to the rakyat.

But when your police force is involved in talks against a bona fide religion and to poison the minds of young impressionable minds, then it is definitely wrong!

There cannot be black and white for every single thing. And there is a difference between what is morally right and legally right. It may not be illegal or against the law, but what your police officer has done is morally wrong.

You are seen to be siding one religion against another. By so doing, you are creating suspicions and resentment and causing potential disharmony among the citizens you have been entrusted to protect and serve.

Kalvin Rekhraj: With Khalid Abu Bakar’s statement, it is now okay for the police to give religious talks. So here’s the question that many non-Muslims have on their mind: Is it acceptable for non-Muslims to hold forums on against conversion to Islam?

It is apparent that non-Muslims will never get any assistance from the police if their faiths are threatened.

I pray to the one God, the Creator, to show all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion, the path of acceptance and tolerance, and to rid Malaysia of extremism.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Which law says the police can give seminars on religious issues?

Is it in the Police Act 1967, the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012, Prevention of Terrorists Act (Pota) 2015 or Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) 1959?

The Special Branch can observe such seminars to ensure that the law is not broken. But where is the evidence of this Christian agenda and how many Muslims have converted?

The police should not be playing on religious sentiments to serve the Umno agenda.

Daniel: The police by the very nature of their duties must be neutral and be seen to be so. So the police chief should stop making stupid statements to justify the bigotry being practiced.

In fact, they should have been at the UiTM seminar to monitor what is being preached there, just like how they have allegedly infiltrated some churches.

Rightly, if they are doing their jobs, the organisers should have been arrested for sedition for describing the preaching of Christianity which is protected in the constitution, as a threat.

Anonymous #19098644: When is it that the role of the police includes interfering in religious affairs?

Why is the IGP now getting the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) involved in attacking another religion? Why is the police force not focusing on preventing crime and terrorist activities?

Tentarik: Indeed, what has the PDRM got to do with religion? Leave religion to the religious bodies/organisations. Khalid, you keep to the job you are paid to do, and stop giving stupid replies.

Mojo Jojo: In case you haven’t noticed, there is a stark difference between attending a seminar and speaking at a seminar.

To top it all off, the said police officer didn’t just perform a run-of-the-mill seminar espousing the “glories” of the Mohammedan faith, but was there to run down another religion as a malignant force bent on undermining the religion of the ethnic majority.

I am not in favour of parliamentary provisions that forbid free speech such as the Sedition Act, and believe that seminars of this nature should be allowed in mature democracies.

But we do not live in a democracy, and can we imagine the uproar this country would experience if someone from the religious minority conducts a seminar of similar nature against the religious majority?

Anonymous #44199885: Yes, it is not attending a seminar that is wrong, it is being involved in such a seminar or participating in one that is wrong.

By participating, the police have unwittingly given risk to the lives of Christian Malaysians who will now be viewed with suspicion when all along the community has followed the laws and been patriotic to the country.

Singling out Christian Malaysians in this fashion by an academic institution in times like these puts the community at risk to extremists.

Negarawan: The IGP has over the years shown himself to be an Islamic bigot. He has acted unjustly in child custody cases and shown his bias towards Muslim hooligans in the church’s cross incident.

Faith is a very personal thing. In Malaysia, it seems that the Islamic religion is increasingly focused on attaining selfish objectives, at the expense of, and intruding into other faiths.

Will the IGP agree that non-Muslims organise similar seminars nationwide on non-Muslims minors being illegally converted into Muslims?

The only reason why non-Muslims are not doing this is because they understand that there is no compulsion in religion. It is strictly between the individual and his/her God.

While Muslims leaders have often mentioned that there is no compulsion in Islam, the reality is very different. In Malaysia, when an individual has converted to Islam, he/she has no avenue to leave the religion. That is compulsion.

Oh Ya: Where on earth other than kangkung land would the police sponsor a seminar that could potentially create enmity between religions? Isn’t it seditious? Isn’t it a threat to national security?

And yet the IGP could claim that there are no laws saying it is wrong? Are kangkung land’s laws reserved for the minority, the opposition, the dissidents and civil society only?

Does it mean that kangkung land’s institutions could do whatever they like so long they are the ruling elite’s shoe polishers, never mind their oaths of office?

BH Yap: This is not a good answer, IGP. The police must be perceived to be fair and unbiased. It may not be illegal but is it morally right for the police to do this?

If all of us start doing things that are not illegal but morally questionable, what will the world be?

Wira: Of course, there is a law. It’s the same law you used selectively to persecute the opposition. It’s called the Sedition Act.

Existential Turd: The same law that would apply to a church if it organises a seminar on the threat of Islamisation in Malaysia should also apply to the police, multiply by two; since the police is supposed to be keeping the peace instead of spreading lies and destabilising the harmony amongst different races.

 


 

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.

Read more: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/323779#ixzz3udKSoGIG