At a press conference here yesterday, national unity minister Halimah Mohamed Sadique said the committee comprised state executive councillors in charge of unity in all states.

She added that a separate “Harmony” committee, which comprised religious leaders of all faiths, would work in tandem with the MEXunity committee, as well as the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, Jakim.

According to Halimah, the committees would help legalise non-Muslim places of worship through registration with the Registrar of Societies (RoS), as well as assist in getting land from their respective state governments.

Halimah was responding to a question about the spate of places of worship being cleared by local councils in Kedah which they had deemed illegal.

She said state governments have the ultimate say on land matters.

“If you do not comply with local zoning rules, they have the right to take action. However, those affected can ask their district offices and their menteris besar or chief ministers.

“In Kedah, the state had offered an alternative piece of land in the case of a cleared Hindu shrine near the Alor Setar railway station,” she said.

She added that under the MEXunity committee, the government has decided to help those in a predicament, so that any dispute is resolved at the respective state level.

Separately, Halimah also reminded politicians to be careful about making statements that could affect national unity.

“We have a good culture of unity and, thankfully, we are not suffering from a social deficit. So, we should not disrupt what we have now,” she said.

Earlier, Halimah signed an agreement between Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) Social Sciences Studies Centre and her ministry to develop a plan of unity for the country.

The plan, which will be co-developed by her ministry and USM, includes an “Ethnicity Development Index”, to be developed by USM.