Banners with the words "Allah is Great", "Jesus is the Son of Allah", have been found in at least five churches in Penang today, raising tension up a notch in this multiracial and multireligious state. 
 
The churches are - Immaculate Conception, Pulau Tikus, St John Britto Church, Sungai Pinang, Assumption Church, Farquhar Street, Victoria Lutheran Church, Island Glades and Church of the Navity in Butterworth.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng tweeted that some church leaders are upset with the banners.

"Spoken to Penang CPO who said will increase patrols around churches. The banners clearly intended to increase tensions between Muslims and Christians," said one of Lim's ( right ) tweets.

An earlier one read: "A few Penang churches upset at unknown parties for hanging up banners outside their churches. One of the churches have lodged a police report".

The banners were found at the St John Britto Catholic Church on the island and the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Butterworth.

Penang police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi was not available for comments.

    

When contacted, Father Victor Louis from the Church of the Nativity confirmed the display of the banner, but denied that the church was responsible for it.

‘No point reacting to this issue’

"We also do not want to play up this issue. There is no point in reacting to it," he told Malaysiakini .

It is learnt that the Umno Jelutong division will also be lodging a police report about a “Jesus banner” at 6pm today.

According to George Town OCPD Gan Kong Meng, the banners were found at the three churches - Immaculate Conception, St John Britto and Assumption Church - which are all located on the island.
 
"We will investigate the matter under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, which deals with inciting religious tensions," he told the media.

Tensions were high in Penang since last weekend when two pro-BN rallies were held - in Seberang Jaya and Alma - to condemn the flash mob against price hikes that was organised by PKR Machang Bubok assemblyperson Lee Khai Loon.

The rally in Seberang Jaya heard threats of a repeat of May 13 racial riots, whereas the one in Alma ended up in violence.

Lee and his team of 15 supporters irked pro-BN groups when they stuffed a replica of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak with bundles of kangkung for using the vegetable to justify the work of market forces behind the prices of goods.

Last week also saw assistant district officer Abu Hassan Osman beaten by a local group in front of 35 police personnel when he and several council officers were in Teluk Bahang for an illegal hawkers-related operation.

Due to the tense incidents, Lim had since called for an emergency meeting to address security matters on Friday, saying the state viewed the situation seriously.

Meanwhile, Penang Umno liason chief Zainal Abidin Osman said that since the churches had lodged police reports of the incident (the hanging of the banners), Penang Umno wishes not to comment further on the matter.

Mischief-makers suspected

"Let the police investigate thoroughly and take stern actions against the culprits," Zainal said.

"However, we suspect that those mischief-makers are attempting to stoke up ethno-religious tension in the country.

"We condemn such irresponsible acts by any individuals or groups," he added.

Since Putrajaya's banning of the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay edition of the Herald , a Catholic weekly publication, religious relations in the country have been edgy.

The situation worsened when the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) seized more than 300 copies of the Bible in the Malay and Iban languages on Jan 2.

It did not help that the Herald 's editor, Lawrence Andrew, said churches will continue to use the word in their service.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has yet to resolve the tension - with groups threatening protests against Christians over their persistence is using the Arabic word to describe God.

Prior to the May 5 general election, Najib had mooted a 10-point solution to address the issue but Putrajaya has since indicated that states were still free to decide on the matter, as religion is a state affair.