Police make routine visit to Ayah Pins home
Claudia TheophilusPublished: Nov 8, 2004 11:03 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
An aide to Ayah Pin today claimed that several police officers had visited the self-proclaimed spiritual leader at his home in Kampung Batu 13, Hulu Besut in Terengganu on Sunday.
An aide to Ayah Pin today claimed that several police officers had visited the self-proclaimed spiritual leader at his home in Kampung Batu 13, Hulu Besut in Terengganu on Sunday.
Rosly Abdul Samad, a musician and a close aide to Ayah Pin (whose real name is Ariffin Mohammad) said one of the five may have been an Internal Security Ministry official.
"But I can't confirm that. They spoke to Ayah Pin and told us that the village and his teachings have begun attracting international attention, which was raising security concerns," he told malaysiakini today.
"They advised him against gaining too much publicity and told us that we were being watched closely by the authorities."
The visit follows earlier statements by the government that action is imminent against the 74-year-old for spreading deviant teachings of Islam through his movement that had been banned in 1995.
Rosly said the authorities had always kept a close watch on Ayah Pin who is said to command a following of thousands from a wide cross-section of Malaysian society, including from the Orang Asli community.
"They (authorities) know exactly what goes on here at the village or with any of our activities because we keep them informed," he said.
Too many visitors
He said the police did not impose any prohibition on the 30 families at the village, whom he said were busy preparing for Hari Raya celebration expected to fall next weekend.
"But they asked Ayah Pin not to allow too many Indians at the village for the Hari Raya gathering.
"They also advised against having outsiders, citing national security and threats of terrorism, especially the presence of visitors from abroad, given the regional situation.
"However, Ayah Pin insisted that people were free to visit him at the village for Hari Raya, where we are expecting about 2,000 people this time around."
Ayah Pin's teachings came to light after Malaysian religious authorities declared him as a deviant of Islam and reportedly jailed him.
When contacted, a Besut-based Special Branch officer said that an official visit scheduled for today was cancelled and explained that yesterday's visit was only a routine round
"It was not a formal meeting (with Ayah Pin). It's just a routine patrol that we usually do.
"We were initially supposed to visit the village today with some ministry officials but it was cancelled," said the officer who declined to be named.
Rosly Abdul Samad, a musician and a close aide to Ayah Pin (whose real name is Ariffin Mohammad) said one of the five may have been an Internal Security Ministry official.
"But I can't confirm that. They spoke to Ayah Pin and told us that the village and his teachings have begun attracting international attention, which was raising security concerns," he told malaysiakini today.
"They advised him against gaining too much publicity and told us that we were being watched closely by the authorities."
The visit follows earlier statements by the government that action is imminent against the 74-year-old for spreading deviant teachings of Islam through his movement that had been banned in 1995. Rosly said the authorities had always kept a close watch on Ayah Pin who is said to command a following of thousands from a wide cross-section of Malaysian society, including from the Orang Asli community.
"They (authorities) know exactly what goes on here at the village or with any of our activities because we keep them informed," he said.
Too many visitors
He said the police did not impose any prohibition on the 30 families at the village, whom he said were busy preparing for Hari Raya celebration expected to fall next weekend.
"But they asked Ayah Pin not to allow too many Indians at the village for the Hari Raya gathering.
"They also advised against having outsiders, citing national security and threats of terrorism, especially the presence of visitors from abroad, given the regional situation.
"However, Ayah Pin insisted that people were free to visit him at the village for Hari Raya, where we are expecting about 2,000 people this time around."
Ayah Pin's teachings came to light after Malaysian religious authorities declared him as a deviant of Islam and reportedly jailed him.
When contacted, a Besut-based Special Branch officer said that an official visit scheduled for today was cancelled and explained that yesterday's visit was only a routine round
"It was not a formal meeting (with Ayah Pin). It's just a routine patrol that we usually do.
"We were initially supposed to visit the village today with some ministry officials but it was cancelled," said the officer who declined to be named.
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