In its effort to reach out to the Christian community and non-Muslims, a PAS MP wants to incorporate Penang Catholic Bishop Sebastian Francis' statement of peace into the party's "political manifesto".
 
During a "Peace Dinner" organised by PAS Supporters Club in Bayan Lepas last night, Sebastian said that there is no peace without justice.
 
"Justice is a precondition for peace," said the Bishop, drawing cheers and whistles from the 100-odd crowd.
 
"There is no justice without forgiveness among us and if we hold on to negative feelings against each other, we will not be agents of peace or justice," he added.
 
Sebastian said such forgiving attitude is present especially in the Muslims' Aidilfitri greeting which ends with "Maaf zahir Batin".
 
He urged everyone to unite to ensure that peace, justice and forgiveness prevail but cautioned people not to merely talk about it.
 
"This must be practised in our daily lives. Reflect if there is peace in ourselves or whether there is a spiritual peace which can help us in this noble cause," he advised.

Held back by racism
 
During his speech, PAS Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa expressed support for the Bishop's words that peace is not possible without justice or forgiveness.
 
"I seek to include that into our political manifesto," he quipped.
 
"This is what we have been struggling for. What the Bishop said is what has also been said in our Quran," he added.
 
"This is not a PAS manifesto but a manifesto from God that we should stand firm on the cause of justice". 
 
Relationship between Christians and Muslims have often been thorny especially after the Court of Appeal's controversial decision last October barring the Catholic Church from using the word "Allah" in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly magazine, The Herald.
 
Most recently in Penang, a Christian migrant worker, who goes by the name Halimah, was charged for khalwat (closed proximity) by the Syariah court, while her lawyers strive to strike out her conviction, saying the latter had no jurisdiction over her as she is a non-Muslim.
 
Mujahid did not touch on these issues but condemned those try sent the country 50 years back into the past, saying that Malaysia achieved independence as Malaysians.
 
"Why after 50 years we are talking about Chinese Muslims or Chinese Malaysians? Why do we take action based on racism? Why do we dictate what others must do? This is not the Malaysia we envisioned for ourselves," he said.

Nik Aziz thanks club members
 
He urged Malaysians not to give space to racist and extremist groups as they do not represent Malaysians. 
 
These groups only represent a narrow minded political party which has such narrow-minded political purposes, he added.
 
"Anyone who wish to be with them, do so. But let me say to all Malaysians, we do not need racism and extremism in our country," he stressed.
 
"We need to move forward, hand-in-hand and step-by-step for our future generation and we cannot do that unless peace prevails".
 
The dinner event saw a dance performance by local Indian youths, and heard an emotional poem recital on the missing Malaysian Airline MH370 by PAS state national unity bureau deputy chief Abdul Rahman Kassim.
 
The three-hour event, which saw participants running for shelter under the canopies when it drizzled heavily, also featured a short video clip of PAS spiritual advisor and former Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat addressing the crowd at the dinner.
 
Nik Aziz said he was impressed with non-Muslims who support PAS, when there are Malays themselves who condemn the party and besmirch the Islamic religion.
 
He praised the party's non-Muslim supporters club for spreading the message of Islam, adding it was still up to the people to accept the faith as there is no compulsion in the religion.
 
During his speech, Nik Aziz thanked the island's PAS Supporters Club chief P Asokan for making the Peace Dinner possible, adding that more of such events should be organised in other states as well.

No attempts to convert club members
 
Later Asokan, who refers to Nik Aziz as his godfather, said he had overcome many hurdles while developing the club since 2009.
 
"Earlier, when we go for ceramahs, we were shouted and screamed at, but we do not intend to hurt anyone's feelings," he said.
 
He denies that PAS has ever tried to convert the club members, saying the party accepts all races, adding that Nik Aziz always encourages him to "continue your struggles".
 
A lift engineer, Asokan says he is involved in the club to help others, saying he was attracted to PAS because of the love shown to everyone. 
 
"They do not degrade us even though we are not well known".
 
Currently, the PAS Supporters Club in the Island has 180 members, with 50 submitting their application for membership to Mujahid during the dinner.
 
State national unity bureau chief Mohd Yusof Noor said the Club focuses on 3Ps : Pendidikan (education), Perkerjaan (employment) and Perumahan (affordable housing).
 
"PAS is for all. We campaign for mother-tongue language and for a Tamil secondary school in Penang, help people find jobs in the various state government agencies and help the needy apply for the 20,000 available affordable units in the state," Yusof said.
 
"We don't just talk politics but do assist people whether they are Umno, BN or Pakatan members," added the former Penang municipal councillor.
 
He was quick to add, though, that there is a fourth P, which is for PAS, that the club must focus on.
 
"That is to make sure a PAS candidate wins the Bayan Lepas state seat (currently held by Umno) in the coming general election," he quipped.