KUCHING: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan has demanded for a ban on Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abdin from entering Sabah and Sarawak.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported on August 20 that Mohd Asri suggested that the Malays should have cultural and political dominance over other ethnic groups in the country.
Voon said this is unnecessary and unbecoming especially for a religious leader who should just focus on his religion instead of encroaching into politics.
“Banning him would protect peace and harmony in the Sarawak,” he said to reporters during a press conference here yesterday.
Voon said this is also to ensure that there is no second Zakir Naik-like hate speech that has been stirring hatred against non-Muslims, particularly Chinese and Indians.
“He should not call the authorities to get the Malays to dominate others because the customs and traditions of other races are protected by the Federal Constitution”, he said.
Voon then told the mufti and his supporters and others who are proponents of Malay supremacy that they cannot turn Dayaks, Chinese, Indians, Kadazan-Dusun, Orang Ulu and other indigenous people of Sarawak and Sabah into Malays.
“It is impossible to do so under Article 160 of the Federal Constitution,” he said.
He also said that no one should be forced to do anything against his or her will.
“The Federal Constitution gives people the right to choose and the right to dissociate with others,” he said.
“This right of association which comes with the right to choose is protected under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.”
He further explained that in fact, the mufti’s call to the Malays to dominate others bordered on sedition, especially vis-a-vis the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak.
“His call is a danger to racial peace and harmony,” he said.
“One of the fundamental terms for the formation of Malaysia is that the country must be a secular state,” said Voon.
