Zaid outdoes religious minister, comedian refutes CEO

His recent suggestion to all eateries and businesses that do not sell or trade pork or alcohol to obtain halal certification has sparked opposition.

Do as the Khalwat team

Zaid proposed, among other things, stationing “detectives or officers” from the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) in all religious and tahfiz schools, similar to the modus operandi of monitoring “khalwat” (proximity) cases.

“Muslim men are wise now. They know that chasing women attracts the khalwat brigade, but not the boys led by religious teachers,” he said.

The former Justice Minister suggested that Jakim engage Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil and RTM and release some RM1.5 billion from his own resources to inform Muslims that Islam considers sodomy a serious offence.

Zaid said Sharia courts should also step up prosecution of child sodomy cases by using evidence laws instead of relying on four male witnesses.

“How many sodomy cases have they started prosecuting? None. The politicians are just campaigning for more prestige and punitive powers for the syariah courts. Are they doing enough to curb crime? No,” he added.

Zaid urged the government to flex its muscles and said parents should be told to be careful in selecting the religious and tahfiz schools they want to send their children to.

“Not all men who teach religion are good. Protect our young boys and don’t think only about reaching heaven,” he added.

Harith astonished

Harith, on the other hand, was confused by GISBH CEO Nasiruddin, who regretted that the authorities could instead have opted for the ‘advice and discussion’ approach and compared the organisation’s situation with that in Gaza.

“Oh, do you want them to advise you and discuss it?” he mused with a look of bewilderment in a video posted on Facebook

“Okay, um… I’m not sure it’s the police’s job, if they receive a report and they investigate a complaint, and there’s suspected sodomy and sexual abuse, to go in and give advice and talk to the potential perpetrators,” he added.

Harith expressed shock when Nasiruddin admitted that there had been “one or two cases of sodomy”.

“What? He just admitted it. Now I don’t know about you… To me this is a crime. Sodomy against children. Rape!

“This is not a case of stealing one or two ringgit from your mother’s wallet. This is child sexual abuse,” he stressed.

‘That doesn’t apply to me’

Harith also disputed Nasiruddin’s claim that things were “moving too fast”, citing a news report in which police said the organisation had been on their radar for over a decade.

“So this is not a ‘pantas’ (swift). It’s not like the police woke up one morning and (went) ‘oh, let’s go search those houses’. No, no, no. This is the result of a long investigation,” he added.

The comedian was taken aback when Nasiruddin said he found it “strange” that the situation escalated so quickly without consultation, as he is a Muslim and GISBH is also Muslim.

“How is this (religion) related to the way the police do their duty? What are you saying?” he asked.

Harith was also not exactly amused by Nasiruddin who described the situation in GISBH after the police action as “worse than Gaza”.

“Sorry, if someone tries to (distract attention from) whatever is happening to them and compares it to Gaza, as if they are (the) victims, that doesn’t work for me,” he said.

Last Wednesday the police raids several GISBH charities in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan over allegations of child exploitation.