Malaysia has withdrawn a ban on a Catholic newspaper's Malay-language edition imposed in a row over the use of the word "Allah", an official said Thursday. The decision was made after the Herald weekly threatened to sue the government, the Home Ministry's publications control unit secretary Che Din Yusof told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We received their letter. We have reviewed the decision and we will now allow them to print the Malay version provided that they don't use the word 'Allah' until it is decided in court," he said. "They can publish as long as they don't use the word 'Allah', just use the word 'God'."
The AFP report said: [Link]
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". Authorities said "Allah" should be used only by Muslims.
Last week, the newspaper was told it must stop publishing its Malay edition while the issue is resolved in the courts, as part of conditions for it to be allowed to continue printing its editions in English, Chinese and Tamil.
Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and publisher of the weekly newspaper, said the move "reeks of ill will and bad faith" and was effectively retribution over the legal battle that is due to be decided next month. Che Din denied the government was trying to punish the Herald.
"We have long banned the word Allah (from being used in publications of other religions), it's not new," he said. The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, welcomed Thursday's decision. "It's good. Our right has been reinstated, it was taken away from us unjustly," he told AFP. On the condition that it will not be allowed to use the word "Allah", the editor said the issue will be left to the court to decide.
Published since 1980, the Herald is printed in English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay. The Malay edition is mainly read by tribes in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island. Almost 60 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Malay and Muslim. Christians—including about 800,000 Catholics—make up about 9.1 per cent of the population. Ethnic Chinese and Indians, who are mainly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, have been upset by court rulings on conversions and other religious disputes as well as some demolition of Hindu temples, a Reuters report explained.
