By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal - The Malaysian Insider
The Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati which was torched. - Picture by Choo Choy May
The Metro Tabernacle Church was the most badly damaged and the first to be hit by a spate of firebombing and arson attacks against Christian churches which followed the recent uproar over the “Allah” issue.
The first floor of the church was completely gutted by the ensuing fire.
“We now have a lead on the physical attributes of the people who are believed to be involved in the church attack,” Ismail said at a press conference in the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters here.
“We are working hard in order to obtain more information. We need more time to get more accurate information,” he added.
The deputy IGP also warned people not to take issue of sending out false alarms to the police lightly, as all the reports will be investigated and action will be taken accordingly.
“This is a reminder to everyone... this is a serious matter and is an offence under section 436 of the Penal Code.”
Ismail also assured the nation that based on the information given to him by police stations in all districts and states, things were very much under control and “peaceful.”
In fact, he went so far as to say that over the last 24 hours no new cases of attacks had been reported.
This comes amid a report that a Sikh temple in Sentul had been attacked, where the glass panels of the sliding front doors had been smashed with stones.
“Last night, there was an incident involving a Sikh temple in Sentul. However, nothing was broken. Police are now investigating whether this case has any connection with the other attacks,” Ismail said.
He also affirmed that the attacks in other states such as Miri and Perak were “sporadic” and “unplanned.”
“So far the church attacks in the other states have been sporadic, unplanned and done by individuals. We are monitoring the situation and will take the necessary measures.”
When asked to comment on Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s statement that the government will not hesitate using the ISA against religious agitators during a television interview last night, Ismail replied that action will be taken according to the process of law and evidence.
“We will do whatever it takes to endure the peace in the country. There have indeed been information on possible suspects, but the process takes time.
“The police need to verify the information, what we’ve seen and heard, we have to be very sure. When enough evidence is gathered, we will take action,” Ismail said.
He urged the public not to completely trust the information spread through the Internet or text messages, and to go to the police if they have any fresh information regarding the matter.
“All Malaysians are objective on the matter, we can work together. Do not use the situation to make things worse.
“If anyone have any new information, help the police. Do not go to other third parties online or Facebook,” said the deputy police chief, referring to the church attacks being a frequently discussed issue within the realm of the popular social networking site.
There has been eight attacks on churches and one convent school throughout the country over the Dec 31 High Court ruling that Catholic weekly may use the word “Allah” in their Bahasa Malaysia section, provoking an uproar among Muslims.
It is still uncertain whether the Sikh temple attack in Sentul has any connection to the spate of church attacks over the past week but the minority also refer to the word “Allah” in their Punjabi language.
No comments:
Post a Comment