KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar will meet with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) this Friday to address concerns about the placement of officers from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) in government departments.
Mohd Na’im confirmed the meeting, which is scheduled for 3pm, in a report by Free Malaysia Today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had earlier directed Mohd Na’im and National Unity Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang to engage with the interfaith council to clarify the purpose of the Jakim officers’ placement.
The MCCBCHST had raised concerns in a statement on Monday after a Sabah political leader suggested that Jakim officers would ensure that decisions in every government department align with Islamic principles.
The group said that placing Jakim officers to ensure that government policies are in line with Islamic principles may contravene the Federal Constitution as the country’ supreme law.
In response, Mohd Na’im explained that Jakim officers are not placed in government departments to influence policy but rather to organise Islamic religious programmes.
Jakim had in August denied that the Anwar administration has directed for Jakim officers to be placed in government departments, in response to remarks made in a podcast with activists Siti Kasim and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.
It said the deployment of Jakim Islamic Affairs Officers began in 1982 as attachés in London and Indonesia.
Subsequently, they were placed in the Department of Agriculture, the Prison Department, the Department of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Security Council, and several other government agencies.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the issue was the result of a misunderstanding, adding that no placements had been made under this policy since 2007.
