KOTA KINABALU: Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan yesterday denied supporting the call by Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali for the burning of Bibles containing the word ‘Allah’.
He said he is not a religious bigot and the accusations were based on unverifiable third party accounts, made worse by constant spinning of the alternative media.
“During a press conference on Thursday, I was asked by a MalaysiaKini reporter whether Ibrahim Ali should also be prosecuted for his alleged call to burn Bibles.
“I explained to the reporter that I was upset when I first learned of alleged call by Ibrahim Ali to burn Bibles surfaced. I wanted an explanation on the situation from Ibrahim Ali, as many of my constituents had expressed to me their dissatisfaction towards Ibrahim Ali for making such seditious statement.
“As evident in the transcript of the press conference, I never expressed my support to any call of burning Bibles by anyone, nor did I instigate Muslims to confiscate Bibles from fellow Malaysian Christians and burn them in anger,” he clarified in a statement yesterday.
Abdul Rahman, who is Kota Belud Member of Parliament, further explained that those who know him personally as an individual and a politician, and know the work he has done as an MP would readily attest to that he is not a religious bigot.
“I was brought up in an environment where my parents taught me to respect other religions and I have carried this advice dearly throughout my career as a politician. Despite the many polarising controversial issues on religious discourse, which have cropped up in the past few years, I try my best to stay true to my conviction of being fair, honest and frank.
“First, I acknowledge this is one of the most contentious issues among Muslims and Christians alike. Therefore I support the 10-point solution mooted by the Prime Minister in 2011. I have made that very clear on my campaign trail in the recently concluded 13th General Election.
“Second, I never touched the controversial usage of ‘Allah’ in any of my parliamentary debates, as I knew it would inflame further the already over-strung relationship between Muslims and Christians in the country. I would rather allow this issue be settled without political one-upmanships.
Third, I spend one third of my parliamentary annual allocation in the Christian-dominated state assembly of Kadamaian where the allocation goes into upgrading churches and funding Christian religious events.
“And finally, as an MP, I have not only assisted in sending Muslim pilgrims for the haj in Mecca but I have also supported efforts to send Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem.
“How can I be construed as a religious bigot, when 45 percent of my constituents in Kota Belud are Christians?.
“My question is then, must DAP leaders take everything out of context and insinuate that I am a religious bigot when in reality nothing of that sort was actually intended in the press conference last Thursday?” he said.
Abdul Rahman reiterated that at no point in the press conference did he raise the issue of burning of Bibles except when he was quoting Ibrahim’s reply to him.
“To any party still bent on accusing me of calling for Bible burning, I will not hesitate to take legal action against them. This issue is far too serious to be treated as just another political strategy by the opposition. It is downright dangerous and explosive,” he added.
DAP Sabah secretary Dr Edwin Bosi and Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing have accused Abdul Rahman of defending Ibrahim’s call to burn Bibles that are printed in Bahasa Malaysia.