Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says there is “some basis” to Utusan Malaysia's report that there is a conspiracy to make Christianity the official religion of the country and install a Christian prime minister.

Hishammuddin said this in view of new evidence provided in a police report lodged in Penang today.

It is believed that he was referring to a police report this morning by Mohamed Razali Abdul Rahman, a DAP member, who attended the function mentioned in the report.

Yesterday, the ministry issued Utusan a letter of reprimand over its front page article on May 7 titled 'Kristian Agama Rasmi?'   (Christianity the official religion?).

The letter was handed to Utusan's editor-in-chief Aziz Ishak yesterday, when he was called to the Home Ministry to give an exaplanation on the report.

NONE Hishammuddin ( right ) said Aziz's explanation was similar to the police report lodged today.

"He (Aziz) was saying that there is some truth to what is reported, and today I was informed that there is a police report (lodged) that there is some basis to (the Utusan report)," Hishammuddin told reporters at the launch of National Anti-Drug Agency's Cure and Care Service Centre in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur.

“I understand that there is police report saying that what was reported by Utusan did happen so this is what I’m stressing on, let's not be emotional on issues that touch on religion and race, let the authorities handle (it), the police specifically, to investigate. (For) the issues that we are looking at, the truth takes time,” he said.

“There are two sides to the coin, DAP can say one thing but the police report says otherwise. (News) reports that are sensational and ignite the sentiments of the people only bring chaos. So I hope the police is allowed to investigate.”

He agreed that Utusan had a similar role to play in avoiding reports on sensitivities.

The minister added that the police were probing the overall issue, including Utusan and two bloggers, over their allegations about the plot.

Utusan ’s report, which was based on two blog postings by pro-Umno bloggers, said Christian pastors were in cahoots with DAP and were committing sedition for questioning constitutional provisions.

“It’s about whether it happened, on the issue of reporting, issue on the role of the bloggers, issue of people that were at the function. It cuts across the board. We are not pointing fingers at anybody,” Hishammuddin said.

‘It’s about finding the truth’

Asked about accusations of biased action against other media, in this case in circumstances where their reports contravened the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and whether the ministry felt the reprimand letter was enough, Hishammuddin said:

“I don’t know, but it is not about finding fault, it is about finding the truth. What I’m stating here is when we are finding the truth, don’t get emotional when it comes to race and religion, do not politicise it and don’t make it a polemic directive.

“This time it might be Utusan , tomorrow it might be (Chinese language newspaper) Sin Chew (Jit Poh), the day after it might be one of the websites.

“A Chinese issue today might be a Malay issue tomorrow, a Christian issue the day after that and a Hindu issue the week after.

“It is not easy running a country that is multiracial and multi-religious, if we go on only looking at issues like this”.

He also denied that Umno’s political bureau had a hand in deciding Utusan ’s editorial direction.

Hishammuddin urged all media to be careful and sensitive in reporting matters on race and religion and not merely publish sensational news.

He said the media should have an internal mechanism to decide the boundaries when it comes to reporting on race and religion.

“If there is a problem, you have to have your own internal mechanism to check each other,” he said.

“If we take action against Utusan , what about the allegations against the Chinese papers? Then the Chinese papers will say what about the contents of the Tamil papers. And the Tamil papers will then look at the English papers. It will never end,” he said.

Witness comes forward

NONE Mohamed Razali, 42, ( left ) lodged the report today at the George Town police station in order to help police investigations.

According to TV3's Buletin Utama , he is a member of DAP's Jelutong branch and was present at the thanks giving function, where the alleged conspiracy was hatched, at a hotel in Jalan Macalister.

"I am here to explain what really happened (during the function) because I was present.

"I made the police report because I am very disappointed with the reports which have been made by those who don't know what really happened.

"Thus, I made this police report and I leave it to the police to perform further investigations on this issue," he said, without going into the details of his report.

Asked why he took so long to come forward, Mohamed Razali replied: "I felt it was necessary after (seeing) all the reports that were not true. As a Muslim, I feel it is my responsibility to come forward and tell what really happened."

Mohamed Razali had entered the police station at about 9am and left about three hours later.

It was learnt that most news organisations were in the dark that Mohamed Razali would lodge the report this morning, but Utusan and TV3 were present.

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