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 ©The
Malaysian Insider (Used by permission)
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — The Bar Council, which has come under attack for
organising a forum on conversion and Islam 10 days ago, emphatically denied PKR
MP Zulkifli Nordin’s accusation that it is anti-Islam.
Zulkifli, who was one of the leaders in the rowdy protest against the forum that
day, told the press yesterday that he was considering proposing a motion in
Parliament to sanction the Bar Council for its anti-Islam stand.
“He was a former council member, you know. And everyone knows our stance. Our
more than 50-year history will attest to the fact that we are a multi-racial,
multi-religious organisation consisting of members from all religions,” said Bar
Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.
She went on to say that his description of events that took place that day was
not accurate. “What I would say is, the film is on YouTube... what took place...
and it speaks volumes for itself. There are also many witnesses. You can ask any
one of them.
“As far as the motion is concerned, of course he is free to say what he wants,
but nothing could be further from the truth. We believe in the freedom of all to
practise their religious beliefs and we are the last to be anti any religion.
“Nothing said in the forum can be remotely called anti-Islamic. In fact, half
the participants were Muslim. What Dr Mehrun Siraj said will attest to this and
shows you there was nothing un-Islamic about that forum. People like her will
definitely not sit in a forum like that if it’s going to be anti-Islam.
“The forum was essentially to discuss the jurisdictional conflict between the
syariah court and the civil court. The other thing to note is that it has been
reported that Pas wants to dialogue with us and we are ready to do that.”
A past president of the Bar Council, Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, reaffirmed
Ambiga’s position about where the council stands on matters relating to all
religions, not just Islam.
“The Bar Council has never been anti-Islam. I was president of the Bar Council
for two years, I’ve been a member of the Bar Council for the last 14 years and I
am still a council member now, and for sure, being a Muslim, I can consider
myself a staunch Muslim as well. The Bar Council has never taken any stand that
is anti-Islam. The Bar Council has never taken any position against any racial,
religious, ideology and so on. The Bar Council is free from all this,” he said.
“I take issue with the fact that he says the Bar Council did not seek
representatives from Islam, I think he’s wrong and the facts speak for
themselves. There should be an ex-syariah judge there, someone from Ikim as
well, or at least, they wanted to come but subsequently pulled out.
“I totally disagree with the stand taken by Zulkifli. Everybody knows what the
Bar Council is about.”
Meanwhile, Lim Chee Wee, the Bar Council secretary whom Zulkifli said had
invited him into the auditorium to verify that the forum had indeed ended, had a
very different account of what happened that day.
“Ambiga had actually consented to invite him up to discuss whether the session
should end early or continue. So Ambiga actually invited him into the building
to have that discussion with her.
“Downstairs, essentially what happened was, he basically told us, if we didn’t
stop the meeting at 10 o’clock, he would invite the more hostile and aggressive
of the demonstrators to storm the building. That was how he put it.
“So, under those circumstances, we had no choice but to invite four
representatives to go upstairs to witness and confirm that the forum would end
at 10 o’clock. We were under threat of people storming the forum. That’s Number
One.
“Number Two... you saw their behaviour when they were in the auditorium. You saw
the way they didn’t sit down, they stood in front of all the speakers and they
started shouting, coming close to 10 o’clock or thereabouts, to ask us to close
the forum. And then there was the unpleasant exchange of things between Muslim
and Muslim. He shouted at Mehrun.
“And the one thing I hope you can say in The Malaysian Insider is this:
nobody, nobody can actually quote any speaker at the forum for criticising
Islam, who challenged the position of Islam in our Federal Constitution, who
challenged Article 121(i). Nobody was critical of any religion.
“What people spoke about was the effect of a spouse or parent who converted and
then they were left abandoned.”
He said the Bar Council was particularly concerned that some of the newspapers
played up the perception that the council was anti-Islam. “The Pas Research
Centre and Dr Mehrun Siraj herself said we should have an open dialogue so as to
educate Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Zulkifli (in songkok) arguing outside the hall where the Bar
Council forum was held.
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Circular No 023/2012: Talk on ISO 9001 | 2008 Quality Management System Certification
My dear Ambiga
Way to go. And my humble salute to the three gallant women, including Prof. Mehrun, that lady lawyer from Penang and yourself.
My dear Zul
My invitation to you to be introspective still stands. You have not replied although you are still a member of the Malaysian Bar, but no longer a Bar Councillor.
I view with a lot of dismay and disquiet how you called Muslim brother and sisters "mosquitoes." It is certainly not very kind to label your fellow human beings, any fellow human being, like that.
Is that an Islamic thing to do? As someone with Malay and Muslim relatives, I do not think so.
And Zul, you cannot have it both ways. On the one hand, you said you were there in your capacity as a defender of the faith. Where is the "attack" and where is the "offence" for you to defend against? And who appointed you as the "defender of the faith"?
On the other hand, you also said that you don the hat of a Member of Parliament and are considering a Bill against the Bar Council for being anti-Islam.
So, can we take it that you were there as an MP as well? As a PKR MP? Did the PKR actually ask you to represent the party? But your party has already asked you to show cause?
Please bear in mind that your answer may well impact the ongoing Permatang Pauh by-election in Penang.
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng