The Star clarifies Mujahid’s interview, ‘regrets’ confusion
KUALA LUMPUR: The Star yesterday sought to clarify the contents of its interview with Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa, a day after the minister’s aide demanded the newspaper issue a public apology within 24 hours.
In a short statement on its website, The Star said that the first paragraph of the interview which had the following quote: “No more knocks on the door in the middle of the night and no more breaking down of doors by the religious authorities investigating reports of khalwat or other alleged wrongdoings” was not attributed to the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
The Star said it was based on a reply to a question, where Mujahid had answered: “The enforcement of khalwat falls within the state judiciary and is not exactly under my jurisdiction, but we can have a platform where we meet all state directors of departments of Islamic affairs and share the concerns of the federal government on these issues.”
“We regret the confusion which had arisen from the said report,” the newspaper said.
On Sunday, Siti Zulaikha Zulkifli, aide to the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs, said the national daily’s report on khalwat operations headlined “No More Moral Policing” in the print edition and “No more night khalwat raids or intrusion into Muslims private lives says Mujahid” on its website had provoked public backlash against Mujahid.
She urged The Star to publish an apology both in its print edition as well on its website for the inaccurate report.
Mujahid has personally denied saying he wants to stop Islamic law enforcers from “knocking on doors at night” during khalwat raids.
The minister accused the newspaper’s editor of putting words in his mouth in the additional report.
He clarified that he was speaking about the abuses of power and intrusion into private spaces, saying such operations did not reflect Islam’s teachings during his interview with The Star, and even provided a link to the newspaper’s transcript on his Facebook page yesterday to support his assertion.
In the transcript, the Parit Buntar MP was quoted as saying that the government has no intention to interfere in Malaysians’ private lives and will focus instead on matters that affect security.