Being accused UMNO Assault Behind the Church in Malaysia

Dimension of conflict related to religion in Malaysia is now starting penetrated the political sphere.

Yesterday (11 / 1) member of Parliament Klang, Selangor, from the opposition, the People's agreement, Charles Santiago, the authorities pointed to the coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN) led by UMNO, was behind the attack church in some areas of the neighbor country.

Charles believed that the action was more mengalienasi East Malaysia, the majority Catholic population, of the State of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island. "Half the Catholics more in Malaysia is a native who lived on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan, Red) and the majority Malays speak," he said as quoted by Malaysia Today website.

According to him, the issue of banning the use of the word "God" has developed into a religious dispute. Conditions that affect the relationship between ethnic Malays are the majority and the ethnic minorities of Tionghoa and India. Minority faction, continued Charles, worried that efforts to Islamization of Malaysia.

Meanwhile, a series of arson against the church in Malaysia has not ended. The most recent target is the Gospel Assembly Church of Borneo in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. Church of Molotov cocktails thrown at them yesterday. The attack left scorch marks on the front door of the church.

According to Selangor deputy police chief Datuk Abdul Manan Mhd. Hassan, assault reports received at 08.30 local time from church members. Initial investigation revealed that the bombers used a few sheets of paper to burn the church door. "We found a scrap of paper and gasoline to burn the door," he said.

According to Hassan, the patrol car that passed the area at around 01.30 not find irregularities in the church. "We believe that the incident occurred between 01.30 and 08.30 o'clock," he explained as quoted by The Star.

Seramban Church Pastor Eddy Marson said, there are 400 ordinary members of the congregation who worship at his church. The majority come from East Malaysia. So far, there are eight churches were attacked in the last four days.

Last week (10 / 1), someone threw a stone into a church in Miri, Sarawak. Such incidents occur the first time in East Malaysia, the majority of the population are Christians and worship using the language of Malays. Area also became the voice for the BN pockets on the 2008 election.

Regarding allegations that Charles, UMNO immediately denied. They insisted not know the background of the attack. Umno officials also denied allegations that Umno had incited Muslim organizations to hold a demonstration related to the issue of banning the use of the word "Allah" for non-Muslim citizens.

Assumption that later developed among non-Muslim communities, some Muslim groups and UMNO deliberately creating issues ban on the word "God" to spark the emotions some parties to demonstrate. The accusation was based on the fact that the government-that in fact is UMNO-dominated against the Catholic newspaper The Herald used the word "God". The ban was revoked Malaysian High Court on 5 January, then tails protests and attacks on churches. The first attack was recorded on 8 January.

A church volunteer, William (not his real name), states that the Christians will increasingly worried about deteriorating security conditions several days ahead. Moreover, the Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday (7 / 1) states that the government can not prohibit a demonstration related to the issue of use of the word "God".