Church should have stood up for their rights, says Bopim

They want the Church to put back the cross where it rightfully belongs and pursue other actions.

KOTA KINABALU: The UK-based Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (Bopim), an apolitical human rights NGO, has expressed surprise that the Church in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya, caved in to threats and intimidation and quickly brought down its cross in response to demands by a group of 50 unruly protesters on Sunday.

It attributed the protest to the Barisan Nasional (BN) provoking politically-motivated incidents in Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states. “Such a thing could never happen in Sabah or Sarawak. We would not allow it.”

“The Church has brought shame to all Malaysians especially in the Christian heartland of the country in Sabah and Sarawak,” said Bopim President Daniel John Jambun in a telephone conversation. “They don’t seem to know their rights under the Federal Constitution. Muslims who claim that the cross is a challenge to Islam don’t know what their faith is all about.”

KLIA, it added, is in the shape of the biggest cross in the country. “Airplanes are in the shape of a cross. Then, we have the plus sign and many other things in the shape of a cross.”

From the perspective of faith, said Daniel, the Church’s “cowardly tail between the legs” reaction was tantamount to blasphemy. “Besides, it was shameful, humiliating and hurts our feelings and sentiments. The cross is the symbol of Christianity and must be defended at all times as during the Crusades, for example, when Saladin the Kurd seized Jerusalem in the Holy Land just because some people initially faced the holy city when praying.”

“The Christian teaching on turning the other cheek must not be misread.”

Bopim was demanding that the Church apologise to Christians in the country, especially its congregation, put back the cross where it rightfully belongs, promise not to cave in to lunatic fringe groups, stand up for constitutional rights including the separation of church and state and the rule of law.

Bopim also advised the Church to pursue legal options in dealing with the protesters, reportedly sparked off by a WhatsApp group chat.

“The Church should lodge a police report although, based on what the IGP said of the incident, nothing may come out of it,” said Daniel. “It should also send a letter of demand to the leaders of the group to apologise for the incident on Sunday, publish the apology in the media, retract all demands and statements, promise never to repeat them and compensate the Church.”

If the group ignores the letter of demand, Daniel advises, the next course of action should be to haul them to court in a civil action suit. “Let the Court decide.”

The NGO expressed confidence that Home Minister Ahmad Zahid would make good his pledge and charge the 50 protesters, including the IGP’s brother, under the Sedition Act. “Zahid overrides the IGP .”