The Malaysian Bar today defended an article published in Infoline, its official newsletter, that has become the subject of a police report lodged by an Umno politician in Shah Alam today.

In lodging the report, Shah Alam Umno division committee member Mohd Azhar Othman reportedly claimed that the article entitled 'Local authorities ought to be sensitive to individual rights' had insulted Islam.

The article authored by lawyer Yang Pei Keng appeared in the May/June issue of Infoline.

Mohd Azhar, who is also a branch leader, was quoted by Bernama as saying that the contents of the article that described the azan or the Muslim call for prayer as "noise pollution and an annoyance to neighbours" was an insult to Islam.

He also reportedly quoted a sentence from the article that read: "True, dogs may be noisy at times but that is a different issue".

The preceding paragraph in the Infoline article, posted on the Malaysian Bar website, was a discussion about the guidelines issued by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council on the prior consent required from neighbours in dog licence applications.

Bar's insentivity

The subsequent paragraph was a discussion about "developers building mosques in the vicinity of a non-Muslim community" and how prior consent should have also been obtained from the local residents.

Mohd Azhar reportedly blamed the article for indirectly belittling the azan and for insulting Muslims over the use of loudspeakers.

He was quoted as saying that the article also questioned the construction of mosques in "so-called non-Muslim communities" and refuted the existence of such communities in Malaysia because it is a multi-racial country.

The Shah Alam Umno division also reportedly regretted the Bar's insensitivity towards the feelings of the Muslim community and of Malaysia's status as a multi-racial country in the publication of the article.

It wants the police and the Internal Security Ministry to probe both the writer and the article.

When contacted, Bar president Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari welcomed the criticism and reiterated the Bar's role as an advocate of free speech, expression and press in a democratic society.

"The Bar will be the last to exercise censorship over articles sent to us for publication. Anything that appears on Insaf (KL Bar Committee newsletter) or Infoline does not necessarily reflect the views of the Malaysian Bar," he said.

Writers' views

"I'm living near a mosque and I don't consider the azan as noise pollution. In fact, there are many non-Muslims residing within the vicinity and I have not heard them complain about loudspeakers being used for the azan."

He said the views propounded in articles appearing in the Bar's publications are those of the writer(s).

Referring to the contentious article, Kuthubul said it did not appear to be insulting Islam "if it is read within the proper context".

"To me, the article does not belittle Islam. Those who do not agree with the writer are welcome to write to us. We will gladly publish their views because it is all about an individual's view and perception," he added.

He said that if a copy of the police report is made available to the Bar, it would be published in the August issue of Infoline.

Mohd Azhar could not be reached for further comments today.