‘Only Surendran can join cops in shootout ops’

It is learned that the PKR MP has contacted the Director of Criminal Investigation Department Hadi Ho Abdullah to confirm his participation.

SEPANG: Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the offer to tag along with the police in their operation against armed criminals is only offered to Padang Serai MP N Surendran and nobody else.

“The offer is only for Surendran and it is not open to the public and other MPs,” he said.

Khalid said Surendran must agree to the indemnity clause if he wanted to follow the police in their shootout operation.

“He should be ready whenever we call him because we don’t know the exact time. It can happen at two or four in the morning,” he said at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this morning before flying off to Colombia for an Interpol meeting..

Reporters were later informed that Surendran had already contacted the Director of Criminal Investigation Department Hadi Ho Abdullah to confirm his participation.

“I would like to congratulate Surendran for being supportive and contacting the CID director,” said the IGP.

Last Friday, Khalid in a twitter conversation offered Surendran to tag along with the police so that he could get a feel of the situation.

The IGP, who is active on Twitter, has also asked Surendran to get in touch with the federal CID director for body armour measurement and sign the indemnity clause.

Surendran replied Khalid’s tweet by saying that he accepted the offer.

However, several individuals have slammed the IGP for being callous and irresponsible for offering such an invitation to an MP.

Judge: 'Allah' ruling to protect Islam, Malays

The insertion of the words ‘in peace and harmony’ into Article 3(1) of the federal constitution should be interpreted as the need to protect the sanctity of Islam as the main religion of the country and to insulate it against any probable threats, reasoned a senior judge.

Newly-elevated Federal Court judge Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali (left) said the insertion was a by-product of the social contract entered into by the nation’s founding fathers.

“It is my judgment that the most possible and probable threat to Islam, in the context of this country, is the propagation of other religions to the followers of Islam,”  he said in his 43-page judgment in the case involving the Malay edition of Catholic weekly The Herald.

“That is the very reason as to why Article 11(4) of the federal constitution came into place.”

He, along with Justices Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim and Mohd Zawawi Salleh of the Court of Appeal, had unanimously allowed the government’s appeal to overturn a 2009 Kuala Lumpur High Court decision on the use ‘Allah’ by the publication.

Article 3(1), Justice Apandi said, has a chequered history as it was not part of the draft proposed by the Reid Commission, and was only inserted after objections, negotiations, discussions and consensus from all stakeholders.

The article reads: ‘Islam is the religion of the federation but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the federation’

Lawyers for the church had argued that the home minister's ban on ‘Allah’ in the Malay edition of The Herald was against the spirit of this article.

Article 11(1) says every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4) - which refers to state law - to propagate it.

In the Federal Territories, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among Muslims.

Noting that freedom can never be absolute, Justice Apandi ruled that the alleged infringement by the home minister in not allowing the use of ‘Allah’ can be negated.

“Freedom cannot be unfettered, otherwise like absolute power, it can lead to chaos and anarchy. Freedom of religion, under Article 11(1) ... is subjected to Article 11(4) and is to be read with Article 3(1).”

Justice Apandi also pointed out that the word ‘Allah’ does not appear in the old and new Testaments.

“In the Bible, God has always been known as ‘Yahweh’. That being the historical fact, it can be concluded the word ‘Allah’ is not an integral part of the faith and Christianity practice, in particular that of the Roman Catholic Church,” he said.

“Due recognition must be given to the names given by their respective Gods in their respective holy books such as ‘Yahweh’ in the holy Bible, Allah in the holy Quran and Vishnu the God of the holy Vedas.”

Cabinet decision

Justice Abdul Aziz, concurring with Justice Apandi, said the cabinet had in 1986 outlawed the use of ‘Allah’ and three other terms to religions other than Islam, on the basis of potential harm to public order and safety.

In his 34-page judgment, he said the KL High Court judge who had allowed the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop's application did not appear to appreciate this concern.

“There were attacks on churches and mosques recorded and this was deposed in the three affidavits filed after the High Court's decision for the purpose of this appeal.

“These affidavits by journalists who covered the events was not objected by the respondents (the Archbishop). Therefore, I am of the view that the government has reasonable basis for exercising the discretionary power to impose the condition.

“I am also of the view that it is not unreasonable for the government to take into consideration the special position of Islam as the religion of the federation.”

In his 25-page judgment, Justice Mohd Zawawi agreed that ‘Allah’ is not essential to or an integral part of Christianity.

“Therefore, the word does not attract a constitutional guarantee of Article 11(1) of the federal constitution. The question of translating God as ‘Allah’ is still being hotly debated among Christians worldwide.

“Allah is a proper name and the only God in Islam,” he said, going on to recite the Al-Ikhlas chapter of the Quran.

He said ‘Allah’ had been used in Malay translations of the Bible in 1912 and 1988 to replace ‘Yahweh’; in the Biatah translation used in Sarawak; and in the Tausug translation in Jolo, Philippines.

“However, the completely revised Malay(-language) Bible of 1996 restored the practice of translating ‘Elohim’ as ‘Allah’,” he said.

“It was said that this was at the advice of Malaysian church leaders who considered the translations of 1912 and 1988 as not being exegetically accurate.”

Surendran: 10 killed after 'shoot first' remark

Ten criminals were shot dead by police within the span of three days, not long after Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s controversial "shoot first" comment, said an opposition MP.

PKR’s Padang Serai parliamentarian N Surendran, describing these shootings as “murder”, linked the incidents to the minister’s comments.

On Oct 9, three people were shot dead in Sentul, while three were killed in Ipoh on Oct 10 and four in Ampang on Oct 11, he said.

"Zahid has officially endorsed murder by the police force; and the inspector-general of police and top brass have been disgracefully defending Zahid's criminal statement," he said in a statement.

"Public safety is in grave danger. We call for an immediate end to the 'shoot-first' policy, and for Zahid and the IGP to be probed for conspiracy and abetment of murder.

"Why is it that not one of the 10 could be arrested alive or by a disabling shot?"

He also compared Malaysia's record to that of the UK, which has twice as many people and where guns are widely available.

According to the UK Independent Police Complaints Commission, there were only two fatal police shootings from 2011-2012, Surendran said, while none have been recorded since last year.

Ahmad Zahid has denied calling for extrajudicial killings, while police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has dismissed the allegation that the police are trigger-happy.

Last Friday, Khalid invited Surendran to join a police operation to experience first-hand a shootout with criminals. Surendran replied he has no qualms about doing so.

'Stop being judges if you can't uphold constitution'

The Court of Appeal has come under flak for its ruling to bar Catholic weekly The Herald from using ‘Allah’ to refer to God in its Malay edition.

Lawyer Syahredzan Johan (left) said judges should stop being judges if they cannot ‘remember their oath to uphold the constitution’.

‘Judges should remember the oath they took to uphold the constitution. If they can't do that, then stop being judges,’ Syahredzan tweeted shortly after the ruling was delivered this morning.

Former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim also waded into the discussion with sharp comments.

‘Judges need only to apply the law, but in Malaysia they have other extraneous duties to the people (and) to the politicians,’ he tweeted.

He criticised the court’s finding that the use of ‘Allah’ is not an integral part of the Christian faith.

"Now we have Muslim judges who are experts in Christian religion and theology. They must have spent sometime in the Vatican," Zaid (right) tweeted with obvious sarcasm.

Similarly critical were Lawyers for Liberty, who suggested on their Twitter account that the judiciary has failed the people yet again.

"Time and time again we have been let down by the judiciary who only pay(s) lip-service to the constitution," the NGO said.
'Know any Christians in Borneo?'
DAP's Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming (below), reacting to the finding that ‘Allah’ is not an integral part of Christianity, tweeted: ‘Wow, the judges should talk to their Christian friends in East Malaysia.’

Umno vice-president and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was among the first top party leaders to support the ruling.

‘Alhamdullilah, the truth will always be the truth (benar tetap benar),’ he tweeted.

His reaction drew criticism from the DAP's Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham, who tweeted that the comment is ‘shocking’ coming from the son of former premier Hussein Onn, who is a ‘highly respected and moderate PM’.

"Please respect the federal constitution which guarantees freedom for all religion to be practised in peace and harmony," Ngeh replied.
Questions raised
Some netizens questioned if the ruling means that 'Allah' cannot be mentioned by non-Muslims at all.
'History books in school contain 'Allah' too. So now non-Muslims don't need to study history classes too,' Twitter user K Kumar, said.
Jason Lee said 'non-Muslims will now not sing the Selangor state anthem. Don't say we are not patriotic'.
The DAP's Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh (right) asked if Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Paul Low and Idris Jala will still defend the government.
'Still believe in working with Najib for transformation?' she asked the two ministers.
Veteran activist Hishamuddin Rais also said on Twitter that 'Allah' has now been made 'a member of the Ketuanan Melayu party', in a thinly-veiled reference to Umno.