Cow slaughter part of school education, says MP

PARLIAMENT A BN MP has claimed that the slaughtering of cows on school grounds was in fact part of the education of Muslim students in school.

Shabudin Yahaya (BN-Tasek Gelugor - left) described the slaughter as a practical lesson for the Islamic Studies subject when interjecting to M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) during the budget debate in Parliament.

“The cow slaughtering is not a regular slaughter, it is part of the (school’s) subject and korban is in the Islamic studies subject taught in schools as part of Fiqh (jurisprudence).

“It is a practical to lessons on how to proper conduct a slaughter and it should be done,” said Shabudin.
Shabudin added that there was no intention to offend Hindus, and the Muslim community had similarly been tolerant with processions by the Indian and Chinese communities.

Earlier, Kulasegaran (right) had complained about the slaughtering of cows on school grounds during the Aidiladha celebration which he said hurt the sensitivities of Hindu who deem the creature sacred.

“Is it (school) an abattoir? Is it even licensed to do it (slaughter)?” he said.

Such religiously insensitive activities in national schools, Kulasegaran added, did not help in attracting multiracial students.

“Ninety three percent of Chinese send their children to Chinese schools and more than 60 percent of Indians send their children to Tamil schools,” he said.

On a separate matter, Kulasegaran urged the government to drop all charges against Komas programme director Lena Hendry over the screening of the film ‘No Fire Zone’.

Lena was charged under the Film Censorship Act 2012 for organising the film’s screening which talks about the Sri Lankan government’s alleged abuses against the Tamil community.

‘MPs also guilty?’

“On the morning of that screening, it was also shown to MPs in Parliament. If the film’s screening is wrong, then the screening in Parliament would have also been illegal. Why was there no action?

“Are MPs above the law? No! So the government should drop all charges against Lena Hendry,” he said.

He added that the government should not be cowed by pressure from the Sri Lankan embassy.

Kulasegaran also chastised Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia over the lack of its proposals in the recent Budget 2014.

“This is the only place in the world where (Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia leader) P Waythamoorthy (left) can go on a hunger strike and end up as a deputy minister.”

Prior to the general election, the movement had thrown its support behind BN after the coalition agreed to implement its blueprint on uplifting the Indian poor.

Waythamoorthy was appointed as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department after the election.