Baru Bian
KUCHING (Mar 18): Selangau MP Baru Bian has claimed that the legal battle on the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims could have been resolved out of court if Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had agreed to a proposed amendment to the 1986 administrative directive when he was home minister.
Rebutting Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Backbenchers’ insinuation that former Pakatan Harapan (PH) ministers did nothing to resolve the issue, Baru said several PH ministers, including him as the Works Minister, had made attempts to settle the matter out of court.
He revealed in a lengthy statement today that in mid-2019, the federal cabinet had mandated Council of Eminent Persons chairman Tun Daim Zainuddin to resolve the matter, adding that by then, submissions had been filed in the High Court and the matter was pending a decision.
“The lawyers had indicated to the SFC (Senior Federal Counsel) representing the federal government that they were prepared to settle the matter outside court or to work on an administrative resolution of these two cases,” he said referring to the cases involving Jill Ireland and SIB Sabah.
“The Court was duly informed and the decision was postponed many times pending settlement. Tun Daim could not move forward as the Cabinet decision mandating him to resolve the issue was not officially communicated to him,” he explained.
Baru said he had brought up the matter in the Cabinet on Nov 8, 2019 and a Special Committee of Ministers comprising himself, Muhyiddin, Datuk Darell Leiking, the late Datuk Liew Vui Keong and Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa was formed to discuss and resolve the matter.
“The proposal for an administrative resolution from the applicants was to amend the 1986 Administrative Directive dated December 5, 1986 prohibiting the use of the word ‘Allah’ with the following: ‘that the term/word ‘Allah’ is permitted to be used in Christian publications in Sabah and Sarawak unconditionally; and that the term/word ‘Allah’ is permitted to be used in Christian publications in Peninsular Malaysia with the condition that the front cover of the same contains a chop with the symbol of a cross and the sentence ‘Christian Publication’,”. he said.
Baru said these proposals were based on the 2010 Ten Point Solution which acknowledged the different circumstances in the Borneo states and the Malayan states.
“I was informed by the lawyer for Jill Ireland and SIB Sabah that the Attorney General’s Chambers SFC was amenable to the proposal but had to get the approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs, headed then by the present Prime Minister. The minister disagreed with the said proposal and decided to let the court decide.
“The Special Committee of Ministers had our first meeting at the end of November 2019 but the Home Minister was unable to attend,” he said.
He disclosed that among the ideas proposed at the meeting included the suggestion that future publications of the Bible and Christian literature in Bahasa Malaysia would carry a ‘cross sign’ on top of the word ‘Allah’ to differentiate the Christian ‘Allah’ from the Muslim ‘Allah’.
“This was not acceptable and understandably so. The Ten Point Solution provided a simple and logical way to distinguish between Christian and other publications with regard to the referent God in Bahasa Malaysia and other native language publications.
“I briefed the Cabinet thereafter and requested for time to look into the matter and how the issue could be resolved in a win-win situation. In the meantime, we were told that the matter was further fixed for case management in the later part of January 2020,” said the Ba Kelalan assemblyman.
He said he then advised the lawyers for Jill Ireland and SIB Sabah to write officially again to the SFC of the earlier proposal with additional proposals while waiting for a final decision by the Cabinet.
“The lawyers did so. To facilitate efforts towards a resolution, they offered the proposal that there would be a moratorium on the enforcement on the ban for the Special Committee to do their work.
“They wrote a letter on Feb, 12 2020 to the said SFC with the same proposed amendments to the 1986 Administrative Directive and added that in order to facilitate the administrative resolution the Applicants were prepared to take two interim steps i.e, pending a decision by the Cabinet on the resolution of the matter there shall be a moratorium on enforcing the 1986 Administrative Directive; and that the Applicants shall withdraw the two pending judicial review applications in the High Court,” he said.
However, he said before the Special Committee of Ministers or the Cabinet could make a final decision, the PH government collapsed at the end of February 2020.
“The matter was hence out of our hands and was left to be dealt with by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the current government. Plainly no resolution was arrived at and the High Court was obliged to hand down its decision.
“So for the information of GPS Backbenchers, I and several Ministers did try to find a solution that would not result in a win-lose situation but a win-win conclusion. However, the then Minister of Home Affairs was not in favour of an out-of-court settlement and wanted the Court to decide, for reasons best known to himself.
“Now that the Court has made a ruling, he should advise the Rakyat to respect the decision,” said Baru.
He pointed out that he would not have responded in the manner he did today if GPS Backbenchers had not insinuated and assumed that PH did nothing to resolve the matter.
“I am aware and the Church is very aware that this matter is a sensitive issue in Malaysia and that is why we made efforts to resolve it administratively.
“I hope we can stand together on a bi-partisan foundation to defend the rights of all Malaysian citizens notwithstanding their creed, race and background as per our oath of office as the elected representatives of our constituents,” he said.
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