Govt gives pledge on RUU355, bill to limit propagation of non-Muslim faiths

Govt gives pledge on RUU355, bill to limit propagation of non-Muslim faiths

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs says the rights of non-Muslims will not be affected.

Minister in the prime minister’s department Idris Ahmad says two religious bills to be tabled in Parliament will only focus on the Muslims. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR:
The religious rights of non-Muslims will not be affected by the proposed RUU355 and the bill to restrict the propagation on non-Islamic religions, the government said today.

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs, Idris Ahmad, gave this assurance in the Dewan Rakyat when responding to a question by Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang), who expressed concern that the bills will infringe on religious freedom enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

“The bill to restrict the propagation of non-Islamic religions will only be enforced on Muslims. Non-Muslims are free to propagate their faiths among themselves,” the minister in the prime minister’s department said.

Asked by Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas) on how the government will tackle the perceptions by non-Muslims that the two bills will pave the way to discrimination and the “Talibanisation of Malaysia”, Idris said they “will not concern the non-Muslim community at all”.

“These bills do not involve the non-Muslims as they only focus on Muslims,” he said.

Both bills are expected to be presented in Parliament this year. Technical committees have been formed to fine-tune them to be in line with the Constitution and hukum syarak.

The proposals will be presented to the state governments in a series of meetings from Oct 12 to 14.

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