Share |

Saturday, 21 August 2010

'Hudud is not for Malaysia'

The New Straits Times 
By Lydia Gomez

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no place for hudud laws in the country because Malaysia is not an Islamic state, said DAP chairman Karpal Singh.

Having recently suggested a royal commission of inquiry to find out why baby dumping cases were becoming rampant, Karpal said he disagreed with Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who suggested that hudud was the answer to baby dumping and other social problems.

"This is moral pontification. The DAP will not accept hudud in the country. I think it is wrong for Nik Aziz to suggest something that can't be introduced in the country in the first place."

"I must make it clear before any quarrel starts between me and Nik Aziz that when I say Malaysia is not an Islamic state, I go by the Federal Constitution, which clearly provides for a secular state."

Nik Aziz had said on Thursday that civil law needed to be amended as it failed to control crimes and social problems in the country.

He had said it was natural to turn to hudud but taqwa, or the fear of Allah, and tarbiah, or religious education, should be instilled in the people first.

Karpal said as Malaysia was a secular state as provided by the Constitution, hudud did not apply.

"I have no quarrel with Pas but when it comes to hudud, ours is a multiracial country and we should go by what is in the Constitution. Suggesting the impossible is futile," said the Bukit Gelugor MP

No comments: