The Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) today submitted a memorandum to the Bar Council demanding an apology to the Muslim community for publishing an allegedly offending article in its official newsletter, Infoline.

Kimma secretary-general Amir Amsaa Alla Pitchay said the Bar Council should also ensure that similar articles are not published in future issues.

Expressing his disappointment with Bar Council chairperson Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, he said the lawyer should not have allowed an individual the freedom to air his opinion through the newsletter.

Infoline carried the allegedly offending article in its May/June issue which is available on the Bar Council website.

The article discussed issues of individual and collective rights within the context of local authorities' duties and responsibilities, using an issue linked to applications for dog licences and the azan (call to prayer) to illustrate his point on religious tolerance.

Amir Amsaa said Kuthubul was wrong to defend the author of the article, Johor-based lawyer Yang Pei Keng, on the grounds of freedom of expression.

"...he (Kuthubul) failed to respect the feelings of Muslims in the country as well as the Federal Constitution," he said in the memorandum, a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini today.

Yesterday, Kimma lodged a report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters on the same issue, urging police action against Yang for disrespecting the feelings of Malaysia's Muslims and the Federal Constitution.

Apology demanded

On Aug 4, the Shah Alam Umno division had lodged a police report over the article for allegedly insulting Islam and Muslims by describing the azan as noise pollution and public nuisance.

Several Shah Alam Umno leaders, including a lawyer, said the matter would be dropped if the Bar Council issues a written apology.

The Bar Council, however, has stood by the article and cited excerpts that showed Yang advocating tolerance and not promoting religious hatred or insensitivity as alleged by certain political and government leaders.

Kuthubul also said the examples had been taken out of context, thereby resulting in misunderstanding in certain quarters.

The controversial article was on the move by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council to issue guidelines for dog licences, requiring potential owners to obtain prior consent from their neighbours. The rule was not implemented following protests from residents.

In the article, 'Local authorities ought to be sensitive to individual rights' (PDF version), Yang had written: "As in the case of those developers building mosques in the vicinity of a non-Muslim community, while one recognises that any community's right to perform its religious obligation by way of using a loudspeaker, to some, it is noise pollution created to the annoyance of those residing in the neighbourhood.

"Following the argument of the local authority, prior consent ought to have been obtained from the local residents before permitting any developer to put up any mosque in their neighbourhood. However, this has never been an issue so far, simply because the non-Muslim community recognises the Muslim community's right to freedom of religion."

No guidelines

Amir Amsaa also questioned if Infoline gives individuals the freedom to comment on religious issues without any guidelines, and why it published an article that is sensitive to some individuals.

"The Bar Council is a body that should protect the rights and interests of its members and refrain from promoting the views of certain individuals or publishing potentially damaging articles, especially related to religion," he said.

"(Publishing) any article that demeans a religion is not among the objectives of establishing such a body."