Pas told to stop harping on religious sentiments

An Umno Supreme Council member has urged Pas to stop politicising Islam and religious sentiments.

“Stop harping on religious sentiments,” said Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

He was commenting on the Perikatan Nasional component’s statements about the Federal Court’s decision, which found 16 provisions under the Kelantan syariah criminal enactment to be unconstitutional.

The constitutional challenge was initiated by Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid, a Kelantanborn lawyer, and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, on May 25, 2022.

Pas has criticised the Federal Court’s decision, describing it as a “black” day for Muslims.

Puad said Pas knew that it could not introduce provisions in the state enactment that violated the Constitution.

“But they still pushed for it and when the Federal Court ruled that it was unconstitutional, they blamed others.

“Why didn’t they push to amend the Constitution when they were in power?”

He said if Pas was serious about wanting to empower syariah courts, the party should get the support of all members of parliament to amend the Constitution.

“But I doubt they will do this because they are more interested in politics.

“We (Umno) saw this in Muafakat Nasional (MN),” he said, referring to the Umno-Bersatu-Pas pact formed after the 14th General Election.

He said after the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020, Pas opted to work with Bersatu instead of prioritising its other MN ally.

Umno was against Bersatu, its splinter party, in joining MN.

“Then they were talking about uniting the ummah. But why didn’t Pas invite Amanah? That’s why we doubt Pas’ sincerity in what they say.”

Puad also urged Pasir Gudang member of parliament Hassan Karim against being naive on the issue. Hassan had said that the apex court should have taken Kelantan’s politics, history and culture into account when ruling on the case.

He said he supported the policy of various races and religions in the country, including the majority of people in Kelantan, who wanted the teachings of Islam to be upheld.

Puad said Hassan must be realistic and understand that to fully empower the syariah courts, the Constitution must be amended first.