Re: Sikh...Islam...
If that were the case then why did Christians launch Crusades (Wars) to capture the Holy lands and kill hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Jews?
Jesus is not the only son of God we are all sons and daughters of God.
I am sorry to say, but your kind of narrow Christian thinking has led to countless wars. In your narrow Christian world there is no room for Mohammed, or Buddha, or Krishna, or Nanak. In Sikhism there is room for them all. The inability to accept other religions is at the heart of all the Semitic (Islam, Judaism and Christianity) texts and is an intollerance that hasled to much bloodshed over the years.
Sorry my friend, your thinking is flawed because historical events say otherwise.
Talking about"narrow thinking"...this is how the Little Napoleans in our country's Govt try to force feed "islamic teachings" down everybodys throats
Malaysia is a SECULAR country..with 70% Muslim and 30% Non Muslim population...Lim Kit Siang is the Opposition Leader in Parlaiament.
The "Banana Leaf restaurants mentioned are South Indian Hindu owned eating places and they usually place pictures of Laksmi, Krishan Ram Chander etc on their walls....
Subject: FW: JAWI: Little Napoleons
Read on ....
by Lim Kit Siang
___________________
(Parliament, Thursday): The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi must stop the "Little Napoleons" in JAWI from imposing a "reign
of terror" with their lack of understanding of the Merdeka social
contract and contempt for the constitutional rights of all Malaysians,
creating inter-religious tension and setting back inter-racial harmony
and nation-building.
I refer to the multi-agency raid led by JAWI (Jabatan Agama Islam
Wilayah Persekutuan) to the eating shops in Lorong Maarof, Kuala
Lumpur on Tuesday, 26th June 2007, at about 11.30 a.m., particularly
an Indian restaurant and a mamak restaurant.
When the raid was made on the Indian restaurant, an eye-witness had
emailed the following account:
"I was sitting in the banana leaf shop this morning having a roti and
a coffee when a group of JAWI officers entered the premises. 10
officers to be exact, into this little shop. They spent a good 20
minutes going through the place (and it is a small place!) and finally
one officer writes out a writ and gives it to the cashier. They then
left. Curious, I asked the cashier what that was all about and he
replied that they were not allowed to have their little altars and
pictures of their deities in their shop "because otherwise, Muslims
cannot come into their shops" . What utter nonsense! Are we still
living in the Malaysiathat is so "famed" for its "religious
tolerance"?? The shop is not a mamak shop. It is an Indian Banana leaf
shop. Why would it be surprising that they should have signs of their
religious beliefs in their own space? I didnt think that sort of thing
was illegal (please correct me if I am wrong). What is wrong with this
picture?
Will it come down to the point when my Muslim friends should
not visit my home just because I have a cross or a chinese altar
there? PLEASE!
"Better yet, I discovered as I was leaving , that the JAWI personnel
had targetted the other 3 banana leaf shops along that row of old
shops. There were at least 4 nos of vans for the officers , ALL double
parked on the main road and causing an inconvenience to the other
road users. Is there a separate set of laws that govern these people?
Notwithstanding the fact that they are trampling all over the
definition of religious tolerance in this country, they also flaunt
the general laws of the land. This makes me really angry and sad about
the state of our country.
"I now find it difficult to speak up for Malaysia when there are
arguments comparing Malaysia to other countries. It is sad that we
can have the once world tallest building and still think like we came
out of the jungle yesterday."
Last night, I received an email from another public-spirited Malaysian
who visited Lorong Maarof to check on the complaint. This is the
account her email after the visit:
"I dropped by the two Indian restaurants at Lorong Maarof this
afternoon to chat with the workers and to verify what exactly
happened. The Star and another paper were already there yesterday,
they said.
"I looked at the summons issued to Aiswari restaurant: The raid was
done by the Bahagian Hub Halal of JAKIM, together with officials from
other agencies, including JAWI, KPDN and HEP (? must be Kementerian P
or D (not clear) Dalam Negeri; don't know what HEP is) and DBKL. 10 of
them came into the shop, but the cashier said there were about 15
others milling outside the streets.
"According to the summons, the officers came because of a complaint
(choice of berkala/aduan/susulan). 4 jenis kesalahan were written down:
1. bukan pemegang sijil halal JAKIM (this means their halal logo is
from some other source?)
2. arahan tidak boleh menggunakan logo halal dan perbahasan dalam premis (??)
3. Sita?? - ayat ayat Qur'an di buat oleh JAWI?? (four framed ayats,
2 big, 2 small were taken away)
4. tiada pekerja Muslim - NO MUSLIM EMPLOYEES...(? cashier and all workers are Muslim)
"The cashier who seems to be in charge was quite agitated, esp about
the Muslim workers and halal meat served. He is an Indian (national)
Muslim, showed the JAKIM ppl his passport with his Muslim name and all
the 7 workers there were Muslim and so is the owner. The raiders
questioned the "halal" ness of the food served and took the halal
certs issued by the meat suppliers. Said he and the workers and owner
are all Muslim so why shd they serve non-halal meat and chicken.
" They also took away all the ayat Qur'an, but I can't figure out what
the offence is - ayat Qur'an dibuat oleh JAWI??? Maybe they allege
this is not a genuine Halal Muslim place, so they have no right to
display ayat Qur'an?
"At the corner restaurant where my friend's niece ( the writer of the
original email) was eating, they inspected the place, checked the
meat to see if its halal, took pictures, took the halal certificate,
and questioned why they have pictures of Hindu gods and candle on the
mantlepiece behind the cashier when they serve Muslim customers. The
guy said he told the JAKIM people the meat served is halal and showed
him their halal cert from the supplier. Two other restaurants were
closed.
"These seem to be neighbourhood hangouts and people of all races were
there when I stopped by at 3 pm. If indeed they were doing the rounds
to check on halal certification, why the heavy handed approach and
comments and actions on display of religious symbols. (oh Ganesh was
still very much there today on the wall, but the ayat Qur'an remains
missing in the other place) My niece's friend said it was very
intimidating to have 10 officials walking around, taking pictures,
asking questions, picking up food... and in these days of Lina Joy,
Revathi, Subashini, Sharmala, it all points out to the same motive.
"How come every time women complain about husbands not paying nafkah, or
not appearing in court, the courts keep saying they do not have
enough enforcement officers to serve summons on errant
husbands/fathers, but plenty of enforcement officers to go on khalwat
and halal raids..."
This morning before coming to Parliament, together with DAP MPs Chong
Eng (Bukit Mertajam) and Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah) and DAP Selangor
state secretary Lau Weng San, I visited these two Lorong Maarof
restaurants, and verified the complaints and the facts that had been
given in the two emails as true and accurate.
At the corner Indian restaurant, the JAWI-led raid team took away the
"halal" sign and served a notice of its infringements, which I have
yet to have sight as the owner was not in.
I understand that this is not an isolated case but such raids and
offensive and insensitive remarks about the display of Hindu religious
symbols in Indian restaurants had taken place in other parts of Kuala
Lumpur.
The Prime Minister should cause an immediate investigation into the
JAWI-led raids in utter disregard of the rights and sensitivities of
non-Muslim Malaysian businesses and to suspend the errant officers
from JAWI and other agencies like JAKIM.
(28/6/2007)
Gyani jarnail Singh
