By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal - The Malaysian Insider
IPOH, Jan 17 — Lim Kit Siang urged the government today to withdraw its appeal against the High Court ruling made on Dec 31 last year allowing the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of its newspaper, Herald.
Lim’s statement comes a day after Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted as stating that the time for an inter-faith council had “arrived.”
“I call on the government to withdraw the appeal against the High Court judgment by Judge Lau Bee Lan to show that it is serious in finding a solution,” said Lim to reporters here.
The DAP advisor asserted that it was the government’s prerogative to demonstrate its sincerity in starting the inter-faith dialogue.
“The government must walk the talk when it comes to this matter. They say they are sincere in this dialogue, but they have never invited any parties for a roundtable to address this issue,” said Lim.
Yesterday Muhyiddin reminded all parties not to undermine the peace and harmony enjoyed by the nation at the moment, in reference to the ongoing furore over the “Allah” issue.
“We will not politicise the issue because this is not a political issue. This is about peace and harmony in the country. We should defend it at all cost. We should not be careless or adopt a lackadaisical attitude,” he said.
Amid the uproar over the ‘‘Allah’’ ruling, ten churches have been either firebombed or vandalised while a Convent school and one Sikh temple were also attacked.
Yesterday a mosque was also reportedly vandalised when bottles were thrown at the building.
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