8/14/2019 TheSun 2009-11-04 Page07 15000 Bibles Barred for Containing Banned Words

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news without borders7theSun | WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4 2009

15,000 Bibles barred for

containing banned wordsby Llew-Ann Phangsreports@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: Fifteenthousand Bibles were stoppedfrom being distributed forcontaining banned termi-nology.

The Bibles in BahasaIndonesia which were con-fiscated in March and Sep-tember were returned to theimporter to be shipped backto Indonesia, Home Ministrysecretary-general Datuk SeriMahmood Adam said.

He said appeals byvarious quarters had been

rejected on the grounds thatthe scriptures contained thebanned wordsAllah, Kaabah,baitulmaland solat.

All the bibles containedthe four banned words andthis ruling is gazetted bylaw, Mahmood told theSunon Monday.

On Sept 11, the ministry

confiscated a consignment of5,000 Gideons Internationalbibles in Bahasa Indonesiaand 5,000 Indonesia/EnglishBilingual Testaments.

In March another 5,000Gideons Bibles were confis-cated. All consignments werefrom the Alpha Publisher inJakarta, sent toKuching.

Mahmood saidministry approvalmust be soughtbefore publicationsare brought intothe country.

It is just like

film censorship,send us one or twocopies of the book or publica-tion before bringing in such abig bulk. We have been veryclear about this, bibles can-not contain the four words,he said.

General secretary of theCouncil of Churches of Mal-

aysia, Rev Herman Shastri,said the Home Ministryshould not be dictating howChristians should worship.

This is a right that isguaranteed under the Fed-eral Constitution. Allowingthe publications enables thecongregation which speaks

the language to worshipand learn more about theirreligion, he said.

Shastri said the Bibleswere meant for migrantChristians from Indonesiaand those in Sabah andSarawak who were already

using Bahasa Malaysia biblesbefore they became part ofthe federation.

He said the governmentshould not feel threatenedby the publications that wereconfiscated.

They are not beingbrought in to be distributed

among Muslims. Its asmall number of Bibleswhich are daily read-ing for Christians.

The Kuala LumpurHigh Court will decideon Tuesday whetherto allow eight partiesto intervene in a mat-

ter relating to the useof the wordAllahinweekly Catholic publicationThe Herald.

The weeklys BahasaMalaysia section was bannedand the Church has appliedto set aside a ruling banningthe use of the word Allahamong non-Muslims.

This is a right that is guaranteedunder the Federal Constitution.

Allowing the publications enablesthe congregation which speaks thelanguage to worship and learn moreabout their religion.

Rev Herman Shastri

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