Home Minister Allah Appeal Withdrawn To Give Govt Time To Study Schism In 1986 Directives

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“The lingering administrative issue regarding the seizure of Video CDs belonging to Jill Ireland was not an issue about the term ‘Allah’,”
(MMO) – Putrajaya withdrew the appeal against a High Court ruling that directed Jill Ireland Lawrence’s seized compact discs to be returned was meant to give the government time to “study” a 1986 directive that banned Christians from using the term “Allah” alongside three other words, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution said today.
The Anwar administration has come under intense attack following the withdrawal ahead of six state elections slated for July, with the opposition ramping up its communal rhetoric to paint the so-called unity government as “anti-Islam”.
Saifuddin suggested in a statement posted on his Twitter that the entire legal dispute was never about who gets the exclusive right to use the word “Allah”, an Arabic term for “god” used widely by Christians in other countries including the Middle East. Instead, the legal battle was centred on what he described as the contradictory directive issued by the Cabinet and Home Ministry respectively in May and December 1986.
“The lingering administrative issue regarding the seizure of Video CDs belonging to Jill Ireland was not an issue about the term ‘Allah’,” the minister said in a tweet posted at 9.15am today.
“As a responsible government, because there was a contradiction in the administrative directive issued in 1986… the government plans to conduct a more comprehensive study on the administrative directive with regards to the use of Allah,” Saifuddin added.
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