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New Bian
KUCHING (5 December): Selangau MP Baru Bian has called on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to retract his statement against secularism and liberalism, as it was considered extremely insensitive to Sarawak’s aspirations.
He also called on all upright thinking Sarawak leaders to take a stand on this issue and be heard, in order to safeguard the Federal Constitution and secularity.
“If the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government persists in challenging secularism, then all Sarawak MPs must withdraw their support for this PN administration, including the GPS MPs without whom Muhyiddin Yassin will surely fall as Prime Minister.” it said today in a statement.
Baru, who is a member of the presidential council of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), said that on November 28 at the annual general meeting of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPMB), the Prime Minister was quoted as saying that the PN government’s alliance with Umno and PAS, it was ‘the will of God’, and is committed to fighting against secularism and liberalism.
He added that secularism was defined simply as “the concept that government or other entities must exist separately from religion and / or religious beliefs, while liberalism, he noted, means” a political and / or moral philosophy based on consent of the freedom of the governed and equality before the law ”.
He noted that this type of secularism on a social or philosophical level has often occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state support for religion.
“This statement by the Prime Minister is very alarming, especially for Sarawak, which has always been a secular state.
“Is it the prime minister’s agenda to change this part of the constitution? Make no mistake about it, Sarawak is a secular state, period, ”he said.
Baru believed that Sarawak would not have agreed to join the Malaysian formation 50 years ago if it were an Islamic state.
He said that Sarawak signed the Malaysia Accord as a secular state, as shown in historical documents and legal judgments.
“That was the ‘binding spirit’ of MA63. It should be noted that the founding father, Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, stated this clearly in Parliament: “I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic State as it is generally understood, we simply stipulate that Islam be the official religion of the State. [Hansard, May 1,1958]. “
“How much clearer can it be that the intention was the establishment of a secular state?” he said.
He believed that during the conversations that led to the formation of Malaysia, non-Muslim communities in Sarawak had expressed reservations that Islam was the religion of the Federation.
He said that it was finally agreed that “while there were no objections to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia, there should be no state religion in Sarawak, and the provisions relating to Islam in the current Malaya Constitution should not apply to Sarawak” .
He pointed out that the absence of a state religion was key to Sarawak’s agreement to join the formation of Malaysia in 1963, due to the wisdom of our ancestors.
“If it were otherwise, I have no doubt that the people of Sarawak would never have agreed to be part of the Federation,” he said.
He said that in 2015, the capital of Sarawak, Kuching was chosen as the “City of Unity” as Kuching is a model city to promote unity between people of different races and religions.
This, he said, was an undeniable recognition that Sarawak is a state that has a clear direction towards unity.
“This is because all Sarawakians value our unique culture where we can all sit and eat regardless of race, creed or religion under our accepting unadulterated way of life. There is a mutual respect here that is obviously lacking in other parts of the country.
“It is imperative that all Sarawakians oppose this callous statement by the Prime Minister. This blatant attack on secularism must not go unanswered, ”he said.
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