He said Article 3 of the supreme law of the land states that Islam is the religion of the federation but the same provision also provides that other religions may be practised in peace and harmony.
“Therefore, any steps taken by the federal government, especially by the prime minister, to create a ministerial portfolio to take charge of the religions of non-Muslims is well within the law,” he said.
The senior lawyer was responding to objections raised by PAS and the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers’ Association (MMLA) to a call by DAP’s Raub MP Chow Yu Hui for a non-Muslim affairs minister to be appointed.
PAS Ulama Council chief Ahmad Yahaya criticised the proposal, calling it ill-conceived and irrational as it undermines the rightful position of Islam in Malaysia.
MMLA president Hisham Marzuki argued that the suggestion went against the spirit of the constitution and could have other serious constitutional implications, but without elaborating what these may entail.
Vendargon said the objections appear to be “more political rather than of a legal nature”.
The senior lawyer said that in the early days after Merdeka, there was no minister appointed nor agencies set up to look into religious affairs, even for Islam which essentially comes under the jurisdiction of the states.
However, lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla said the concerns raised by PAS and MMLA had basis as Islam occupies a special position “in the spirit and the structure of the constitution”.
He claimed legal pronouncements made by the Court of Appeal in the 2013 “Allah case” held that Putrajaya had a duty to only promote Islam, which it had overlooked in the past.
“To have a ministry for non-Muslims to take care of their religions will be in breach of Article 3 and also run afoul of the court ruling. It will be seen as promoting other religions,” he added.
Haniff said Article 11(4) of the constitution allows the states and the federal territories to enact laws to prohibit non-Muslims from propagating their faiths among Muslims.
The lawyer said it would be sufficient for the ministry of national unity to handle the religious affairs of non-Muslims within the context of racial harmony and peace.
Another constitutional lawyer, GK Ganesan, however, said there should be no obstacle to the setting up of such a ministry given the secular nature of the constitution.
“The 1988 decision of the then Supreme Court in Che Omar Che Soh that Malaysia is a secular state is still a good law. There is a world of difference between the nation being an Islamic state and Islam being the religion of the Federation,” the lawyer said.
Ganesan said Article 11(1), guarantees all Malaysians the right to profess, practise and propagate their religion.
“This article therefore guarantees that non-Muslims have the same fundamental right of worship as Muslims,” he added.
Ganesan said even under Article 8, all Malaysians enjoy constitutional equality.
“If our Muslim colleagues have a minister for their religious affairs, so too can the non-Muslims. To deny that would be to negate the constitution,” he added.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the Cabinet disagreed with Chow’s proposal, adding that non-Muslim religious affairs were already under the purview of national unity minister Aaron Ago Dagang.
Anwar added that a religious harmony committee chaired by the religious affairs minister and the national unity minister, was sufficient to look after non-Muslim religious affairs.