The Sarawak government said it did not give approval for the women’s wing of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) to hold a two-day conference in the state capital, Kuching.
BY DESMOND DAVIDSON | Published: 28 October 2014
The Sarawak government said it did not give approval for the women’s wing of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) to hold a two-day conference in the state capital, Kuching.
The Chief Minister’s Department’s Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Unit said in a statement yesterday that it did not have prior knowledge of the conference and therefore could not act on it.
The conference, held last Friday and Saturday, was reportedly chaired by Isma women chief Norsaleha Mohd Salleh.
The statement, however, reiterated the Sarawak government’s strong stand on any person “whose presence in the state is likely to undermine the prevailing harmony and unity of the multi-racial and multi-religious communities or the peace and security of Sarawak”.
It stated that if any conference or similar event, intended to be held or is held in Sarawak, could be disruptive of, or prejudicial to, the peace, harmony or security of the state, those who are involved either in its organisation or as active participants would be immediately deported.
Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman is facing charges under the Sedition Act for uttering racial slurs.
The ease with which Malaysians from the peninsula with ties to extremist groups slipped into the state prompted PKR Sarawak vice-chairman See Chee How to call on the authorities to be on alert for these people.
See, a state lawmaker, said: “there appears to be persistent and enduring efforts by leaders and groups from Peninsular Malaysia, through their own visits, local members and affiliates or through sponsoring activities of local non-governmental organisations which have caused suspicions and ill-feelings of our communities.”
He was referring to reported attempts by religious groups from the peninsula that had quietly entered into the state’s rural areas to subtly convert Dayaks to Islam in defiance of the state’s policy on such conversions.
See said the government – instead of training their eyes on opposition party leaders, human rights activities and environmental non-governmental organisations – should be open and transparent with the list of racist and religious bigots drawn up by the authorities.
With the list made public, he said, it would enable the public help the authorities detect the presence of the undesirables and prevent them from carrying out activities that may be disruptive to the state’s multi-racial society. – October 28, 2014.