Non-believers need to be
tracked down, says minister
8 August 2017 The Star
Online RAHMAH GHAZALI
KUALA LUMPUR: Non-believers
in Malaysia should be “hunted down” as Malaysia has no place for
atheism, says Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim (pic).
The Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department said such groups go against the Federal
Constitution, which states Islam is the official religion while
others are free to practise their own faith.
“Not once does it (the
Constitution) mention atheism. This clearly shows that the group
goes against the Constitution and basic rights,” he told the press
in Parliament here on Tuesday.
A group called Atheist
Republic had a gathering of its Kuala Lumpur chapter recently, and
a photo of the gathering has triggered outrage from some in the
Muslim community after it was highlighted on social
media.
Shahidan said he would
suggest to religious departments and muftis to intervene in the
matter by identifying members of the group.
“I suggest we track them
down and identify each of them. After that, we have to bring them
back to the right path,” he said.
He said these people became
atheists because they lacked religious understanding and
knowledge.
“That is why they are
easily swayed by new age teachings,” he said.
However, Shahidan said the
group needs to be dealt with in a proper manner.
“We can’t act in such a way
where they could gain sympathy from other people. This would just
make them more popular,” he said.
It was reported that the
Federal Government would investigate the local group, with the help
of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission as it
involved the faith of Muslims.
Atheist Republic has close
to two million followers and supporters on Facebook, with hundreds
of chapters worldwide including in Indonesia and the
Philippines.
I believe this Minister is
making reference to the Malays themselves. He was mentioning
something about this group of Atheists as going against the
constitution and basic rights. Article 11 in the Malaysian
constitution states that, ‘every person has the right to profess
and practice his own religion’. Isn’t he contradicting himself when
he talks about this group going against the Federal Constitution
and also infringing on individual basic rights? Most confusing
statement indeed.
He also did
mention that this group is lacking in religious understanding and
knowledge. I suppose he expect the whole Malay race to think
completely alike and any variation in thoughts are not to be
tolerated as far as their religion is concerned?