Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Johor (Agenzia Fides) - “The situation is still a bit tense. Christians and members of other religions are a bit scared and hope that small incidents at mosques and Suraua (Muslim chapels) are not exploited by unscrupulous politicians in order to attract public consensus and thus, cause a clash between Muslims and members of other religions.” This is what Agenzia Fides learned in an interview with Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing of Melaka-Johor, in the southern part of peninsular Malaysia, after the last two acts of vandalism against mosques which were desecrated with heads of pigs. Between January 8 and 27, more or less serious acts of vandalism have been carried out on 18 places of worship: 11 Christian churches, a monastery, a Sikh temple, three mosques, and two Muslim prayer rooms.
"The memory of the ethnic conflict, riots, and deaths in 1969 is still very much alive among the public, so I hope everyone is careful not to make the situation worse," notes the Bishop. Some analysts have recalled the ghosts of the violent ethnic conflict after the elections, between May and July 1969, that set the Malay population against the Chinese population.
"Small acts of vandalism against churches and Islamic prayer halls continues. They are acts that we firmly denounce. Maybe it is nothing serious and results in very little damage, but that is not the point. The fact is that parties are trying to take political advantage of these events, in light of the upcoming elections. The ruling party, the UMNO (United Malaysian National Organization), which represents the Muslim Malays, after having suffered declines in support in 2008, is seeking to regain the trust of Muslim voters and non-Muslim segments of society. The leaders are in this dilemma. After the ruling on the use of the name Allah, in support of the Church, the party endorsed protests and then backed down.
According to the police, the attacks on places of worship are the work of young militant Muslims. The police had arrested nine young men, three of whom were detained and charged by the courts for arson attacks. They will face up to 20 years in prison. Rumor has filtered that the young people have allegedly confessed to carrying out the acts of vandalism against the Muslim prayer rooms, because they had previously petitioned the government for a cash contribution to restore them, but were denied the money. "The government, however, has allocated 500,000 ringgit to repair the Metro Tabernacle Church of Kuala Lumpur, a church badly damaged in the attacks. This gesture has sown much discontent," says the Bishop, and it is feared that small groups of extremists will continue with the violence.
"In any case, this is a blatantly political issue, which ambiguously exploits the religious issue," says Bishop Tan, who hopes for dialogue and negotiation in order to find a reasonable solution for the good of the country. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 29/01/2010)
