The people have been advised to stop making extreme assumptions of Malaysia’s intention to ratify the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) that can lead to negative perceptions on racial interactions in the country.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the government was not in a hurry to hold discussions and would look into the matter in detail.

“In this regard we have to adhere to the advice of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that this matter should be discussed first, not to be rushed and we do not see this to be done in a hurry,” he said told reporters after officiating the Penang-level Kafa Interactive closing ceremony in Kepala Batas today.

Mujahid also voiced his concerns over the enthusiasm of certain parties that tried to portray the issue (Icerd) incorrectly, among others, that if signed, the rights of the Malays would be erased.

“In addition to the rights of the Malays, the rights of the rulers are also said to be abolished as well as Islam and so forth, whereas all these do not arise. Whatever we agree at the international level, the final decision lies with the Parliament,” he said.

He also gave his assurance that the Icerd agreement would not change the country’s entity either from the constitution point of view or the culture and so on.

Mujahid said he would hold a roundtable discussion tomorrow with the Islamic non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), to obtain their input and feedback on the matter.

Consultation with all races

“From there (the round table discussion), it may help the prime minister to obtain complete information, including from the memorandum submitted by the Gerakan Pembela Ummah at the Parliament building recently,” he said.

Last Wednesday, Mahathir said that consultation with all races would be carried out before any decision on Icerd and admitted it would not be an easy matter as Malaysia was a multi-racial country and each race was sensitive to certain issues.

On another development, Mujahid acknowledged the distribution of Bibles among the students in front of a high school in Bukit Mertajam that went viral on social media recently.

Mujahid said after checking with the state Islamic Religious Department, state Education Department and Member of Parliament for Bukit Mertajam, it had been confirmed that the incident did occur.

“From the information obtained, the issue is whether an offence has been committed if it was distributed among the Muslims because Article 11 (4) clearly states that other religions are free to be practised but shouldn't be promoted.

“I would like to advise them not to cause any problems and to adhere to the Constitution,” he said.

Those who distributed the Bibles were not from the Christian groups or churches but believed to be representatives of an NGO, Mujahid said, and he advised the NGO against creating problems with the community.

- Bernama