Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen visiting the Metro
Tabernacle church at Desa Melawati which was hit by an arson
attack. The administrative office was destroyed in the midnight
attack.
IGP Malaysia Tan Sri Musa Hassan,Chief Police Malaysia, said the attacks are done by individual group and are not coorinated.
A fourth Klang Valley church, this time in Kampung Subang, was reportedly attacked with Molotov cocktail which failed to explode while police have dismissed reports that cars with Christian symbols having their windscreens smashed in the Bangsar suburb today, hours after arson attacks on three churches.
Police have sent a team to investigate the latest church attack in Kampung Subang which is linked to the controversial High Court ruling allowing “Allah” to be used by Catholic weekly Herald in its Bahasa Malaysia section that has outraged Muslim groups.
Selangor police chief DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the Molotov cocktail failed to explode.
City police have also increased patrols in the middle-class Bangsar suburb after people reported cars with Christian symbols such as crucifixes and rosaries had their windscreens smashed. However, police say no cars have been found smashed.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said in the morning three churches were attacked from midnight - the Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati, the Church of Assumption in Petaling Jaya Old Town and the Life Chapel in Section 17, Petaling Jaya.
Pak Lah,and leaders condemns church attacks,
Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today added his voice to a small but growing section of leaders straddling the political divide who have come out to openly condemn the anonymous attacks on several churches in the Klang Valley.
"Two incidents happened last night, which were attempts to burn a church in Taman Melawati and Petaling Jaya, are very regretful. The act to pollute and desecrate any houses of worship must be strongly condemned by all parties," he said in a statement.
"The police and all levels of society must jointly take responsibility and work together so that such incidents do not spread and jeopardise the stability and security of the country," he added.
Abdullah, who is better known by his moniker Pak Lah, urged all citizens to work together and "protect and preserve freedom of religion as it is stated in the Federal Constitution."
"We must always safeguard the harmony and good relations among the races and religions," he said.
The former premier, whose father-in-law was Catholic and whose funeral service had taken place at the Church of the Assumption next to the Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya barely a week ago, was very upset with the spate of attacks.
A Molotov cocktail was lobbed into the Assumption grounds at about 4am today but failed to explode, police officials confirmed.
Two other churches were not as fortunate. The Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati here and the Live Chapel in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, were torched.
More groups have condemned the spate of church attacks in the Klang Valley today, saying it smacked of intolerance and also a low point in Malaysia’s history.
The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) called the spate of fire-bombs as “the irresponsible actions of certain extremist elements”.
“These actions display their immaturity and intolerance towards others within a multi-racial society,” the NECF said in statement issued by secretary-general Sam Ang.
“We call on our government to take the necessary steps to educate those who lack understanding and are ‘easily confused’ to be mature minded in a progressive democratic society.
“With the Prime Minister’s national agenda of 1 Malaysia, we regret to note that these irresponsible actions will bring much setback to the desired goals and derail the country’s effort to move out of recession,” it added.
It appealed to all communities to exercise practical rationality and to listen to the “voice of reason” and strive to make all efforts to foster a sense of greater unity and harmony within all races and religious community groups.
The NECF also called on all parties to learn to respect each other’s basic constitutional and human rights to practise one’s faith and religion, recognising the fundamental boundaries in not interfering with the Scriptures of other faiths.
The Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) also expressed sadness over the burning of Metro Tabernacle and the attempted burning of Assumption Church and Life Chapel.
“These criminal and religiously-motivated incidents mark a low point in our nation’s history where houses of worship are violently attacked and desecrated,” CPPS chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said in a statement issued here.
“This is a troubling trend that started with cow-head protest where religious sensitivities of the various communities are ignored and issues of religion are not discussed openly. The strong dissenting voices and misguided violent actions indicates disagreement and points to the dire need of readdressing the issue in a civilised fashion to ensure the preservation of freedom of religion,” he said.
He pointed out the government should bring the culprits to justice, show zero tolerance towards extremists and extremist acts that causes terror, and accord greater priority to religious freedom and fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Federal Constitution and the Rukunegara.
The Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) human rights group condemned the attacks and urged all parties immediately refrain from all forms of violence in reaction to the ongoing controversy.
It also questioned the police’s ineffectiveness in dealing with violence when they had often stopped candlelight vigils and peaceful protests with lightning speed.
“Suaram urges the police to act immediately, stressing that Malaysia has ample laws to deal with such violence and destruction of property without having to resort to repressive laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Police Act and the Sedition Act,” said coordinator John Liu in a statement.
He pointed out the heightened intolerance in the country had been going on for some time and included the August 2008 cow-head protest and groups that have broken up the Bar Council events that relate to inter-faith efforts.
“In some of the most blatant examples of religious intolerance, there have been involvement of some leaders of political parties both from the ruling BN as well as the opposition Pakatan Rakyat. And these have been largely tolerated,” he added.
“These latest incidents once again prove that ‘national security’ cannot be guaranteed by merely threatening actions using repressive laws, such as the ISA, the Police Act and the Sedition Act. Invoking such laws does not adequately address the matter at hand, especially those pertaining to religious intolerance.
“The government’s decision to charge the cow-head protestors, for example, clearly did not deter further similar, and even worse, actions as were seen early today,” Liu said.
The Yayasan 1 Malaysia also condemned the arson attacks, calling them “morally reprehensible, despicable acts”.
“Yayasan 1 Malaysia appeals to the authorities to apprehend the culprits and to take stern action against them in accordance with the law,” said its chairman Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
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The Malaysian Bar also denounced the violence and said the attacks against at least three churches were “deplorable and, along with other assaults in recent times that exhibit intolerance, demonstrate a very negative and worrying trend towards extreme disrespect and prejudice”.
“Such behaviour is shocking and offensive. Right-minded Malaysians must condemn it as indecent and unacceptable,” its president Ragunath Kesavan said in a statement.
“We remain firm in our view that the most effective and progressive way of resolving disputes is to promote dialogue and an understanding of dissenting views amongst all the parties involved, regardless of how complex the issue is.
“Any reactionary behaviour that encourages any form of disorder must be censured in the strongest terms,” he added.
Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail urged Malaysians today to come together and resolve conflicts peacefully following the arson attacks on three churches today.
The PKR president said her party was appalled and saddened by the attacks, and condemned the acts of violence which she said could cause irreparable harm to religious and racial ties in the country.
“Especially since the dispute about the use of the term ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims is a matter of religious concern, we should all heed the religious teachings of practising tolerance and respect towards all other religions.
“We sincerely appeal to all quarters to remain calm and approach this issue in a wise and peaceful manner. In light of the emotional nature of this debate, all religious and political leaders, in particular, must act responsibly and not try to score points at the expense of another community.”
She said that while PKR respected the right to freedom of assembly and expression, it believed that all parties should exercise these freedoms responsibly and not use them to fuel religious or racial animosity, or hurt any community.
In a separate statement, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also condemned the attacks.
He pointed out that such acts were condemned by the Quran.
Islam, he said, encouraged its believers to respect the houses of worship of other religions.
“I urge all parties to remain calm and not descend into hatred. I am confident the people of Malaysia can resolve this issue without conflict.”
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A church has been fire-bombed in an attack that gutted its ground floor, church officials said, escalating a dispute over the use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims.
The three-storey Metro Tabernacle church in Desa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur, part of the Assemblies of God movement, was set ablaze in the attack which took place around midnight.
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