Hadi visits church, declares arson attacks 'un-Islamic'

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has strongly condemned yesterday’s arson attacks on three churches in the Klang Valley as “un-Islamic”.

The hardline Muslim cleric told reporters that the firebombing of the churches were "senseless", after inspecting the damage at the Metro Tabernacle Church in Wangsa Maju this afternoon.

"Even in war, Muslims are forbidden from desecrating places of worships, what more now when we are living in peace," he said.

"I don't know if these people (the perpetrators) perform prayers," added Abdul Hadi, who was accompanied by his deputy, Nasharuddin Mat Isa.

Hadi was among several Pakatan Rakyat leaders who have visited the worst of the three arson sites in the wake of the attacks.

The administrative office of the church, located on the ground floor of the three-storey building, has been completely scorched, but the damage was so extensive that the entire building is rendered unusable.

Abdul Hadi's visit precedes the visit by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, whose party Umno has been blamed for fanning religious flames over last week’s court decision to allow Catholic weekly The Herald to use the term 'Allah' in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

'Arrest the culprits'

Soon after Abdul Hadi's brief visit, PAS Youth chief Nasruddin Hassan and former MCA deputy president turned PKR leader Chua Jui Meng arrived at the scene.

Like the PAS president before them, the duo were given a tour of the destruction by senior pastor Rev Ong Sek Leang.

"This is cruel, the person responsible is inhumane and clearly not religious," Nasruddin (photo, centre) told reporters later.

Nasruddin said he had issued a statement yesterday to "disagree" with the arson attack, but after visiting the site, he now "strongly condemns" the act.

Both he and Hadi urged the authorities to act swiftly and apprehend those responsible.

Earlier this morning, MCA president and Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat visited the site and pledged to use his powers to help the church.

"This Sunday, the congregation would be using the San Choon Hall (at the MCA headquarters) for its Sunday service. We are mindful of other forms of assistance (they require)," he said.

Ong, a devout Buddhist, said he would assist the church in their attempt to relocate to Batu Caves and is even willing to help with fund raising.

Gov’t promises RM500,000 for church

Meanwhile, Najib arrived at the scene at about 5pm with a large entourage of top police officers and cabinet members to the applause of a crowd which had gathered at the site.

The prime minister was quickly whisked into the building to inspect the damage and emerged about five minutes later to announce the government's pledge to allocate RM500,000 for the church relocation.

This was met with a loud applause from the 200-strong crowd, which includes church members.

Najib said the allocation was to show the government's sympathy
over the incident and the money would be channelled to the Assembly of God so that they could build the church in a new area.

"This is a sincere contribution from the government in the bid to maintain a harmonious society," he said.

He also read a prepared statement to the press, quoting Quranic verses to stress that Islam forbids Muslims from insulting other religions and the desecration of places of worship.

He called on all quarters to remain calm.

"Any racial provocation can ignite the flames of hatred... which will destroy public peace, unity and divide our society," he said.

Church burning a sin, says Nik Aziz

PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat echoed his party leaders in chastising those who firebombed the churches.

"Do you remember the 'cow-head' protest a few months back? We were lucky because the Hindus did not retaliate although cows are considered sacred to them,” he said at a party meeting of religious scholars.

"When the religious sensitivity is lost, there will be no stopping the people in attacking the churches. More so, when Umno is the one who made the people act that way."

Eventually, these perpetrators would become ruthless as they no longer care for the feelings of other Malaysians, he said.

"They (church attackers) will not care if their actions will offend the Christians, and the 'cow-head' protestors did not care if they hurt the feelings of all Malaysians.

"If we burn their churches down, we would hurt their feelings and this is a big sin (dosa) that we need to answer in the hereafter. The same with the 'cow-head' protest. It’s a sin.”