-Herald newspaper editor Father Lawrence Andrew said the move was part of a series of restrictions put in place by the conservative Muslim government when it renewed the paper's licence on Tuesday.
-The Herald, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the word "Allah" as a translation for "God," with authorities saying it should only be used by Muslims.
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"The ministry's Publications and Quranic Text Control unit deputy secretary Abdul Razak Abdul Latif said the approval letter sent to the publisher outlined three rules that they must abide. They are:
- to cease the publication of Herald in Bahasa Malaysia until the court decides on its move to seek a declaratory relief that it is entitled to use the word "Allah";
- that the publication can only be sold in churches; and
- that it prints clearly on the cover that the paper is only meant for Christians."
- NST
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This order is unconstitutional!!
What has the "Allah" case got to do with the whole issue of publication in Malay!!!??? They are flouting the constitutional rights of every Citizen to use BM as the national language for intergration!
How can they ban the publication in Malay? I thought they want Malay usage to be popularized!! They want all Malaysians to unite in language. They want us to study in Malay. Some even suggest Malay be the sole medium of instruction in schools.
But all of a sudden, we cannot publish in Malay when it comes to our religious matters???? What's the problem?
You don't want Malaysians to love the language? Or is it that your faith is so flimsy, and you suppose that all Malay Muslims are like you?
Maybe it is just another way to divide the people and encourage mutual suspicion.
Don't they know that many Catholics/ Christians in Sabah/ Sarawak and also immigrant workers who are in Malaysia use Malay to worship? Are they preventing us from communicating with our Malay speaking co-religionists?
Next they will tell us that we can only worship and communicate in languages that are not spoken in Malaysia!!!
All you guys from different religions/ denominations who choose remain silent/indifferent on this travesty of justice and unconstitutional action by Mr. HM - your day will come!!
