Kuala Lumpur: A church federation slammed Malaysian customs officials today for seizing 32 Bibles, saying the confiscation shows the Muslim-majority country is becoming less tolerant of other religions.
The Royal Malaysian Customs department said it was only trying to determine if the Bibles were imported for commercial purposes.
Custom officials at an airport in Kuala Lumpur took the Bibles from a Malaysian woman Jan 28 on her return from the Philippines, said the Rev Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia.
The woman was told that all religious materials have to be sent to the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit for clearance, Shastri said, adding that he had never before heard of anyone being told to do this when bringing English-language Bibles into the country.
"It's getting from bad to worse," Shastri said. "This either points to a concerted effort to undermine the current practice of religious tolerance, or the religious enforcement authorities have been given a free hand and they are having a field day," he added.
In a statement, the council urged authorities to release the Bibles and issue a formal apology. It also called on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to publicly reassure Christians of their rights.
Customs department spokesman Iskandar Jaafar denied the Bibles were confiscated because of religious intolerance.
"It's the normal procedure" to check if so many books were being imported for commercial purposes, Jaafar said.
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