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Malaysia's 'Allah' ban applies only to one Catholic paper

Government clarifies court decision on use of word
Malaysia's 'Allah' ban applies only to one Catholic paper
Published: June 24, 2014 05:54 AM GMT
Updated: June 23, 2014 07:05 PM GMT

Putrajaya said that today's Federal Court ruling on the Allah issue applied only to the Catholic weekly, Herald.

Malaysian Christians can still use the word Allah in church and the government remains committed to the 10-point solution, a statement from Putrajaya said.

"Malaysia is a multi-faith country and it is important that differences are managed peacefully in accordance with the rule of law and through dialogue, mutual respect and compromise," it said.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala had previously insisted that Putrajaya confirmed the validity of the 10-point solution, which was announced in April 2011.

"The 10-Point solution was established by the Federal Government as a fair and amicable way to manage the polarity of views between the various religious groups, in particular Christians and Muslims, taking into account the laws of the country.

"As stated in the 10-Point Solution, for Sabah and Sarawak, there is no restriction on the import and local printing of Bibles in any language, including Bahasa Malaysia/Bahasa Indonesia and indigenous languages (referred to collectively as the “AlKitab”), as the Government recognises that there is a large Christian community of indigenous origin in these two states," he had said in a statement issued on February 24.

The Federal Court today dismissed the church's leave application to appeal the ban by the Court of Appeal on the use of the word Allah in the Herald.

Full Story: Federal Court decision on Allah only for Herald: Putrajaya 

Source: Herald Malaysia

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