PUTRAJAYA: A group of 10 non-governmental organisations, including Sisters in Islam (SIS), Suaram and representatives from Bar Council, handed some 1,000 postcards protesting the banning of books to the Home Ministry here on Tuesday.
SIS senior programme manger Maria Chin Abdullah said the postcards were collected from September onwards and bore the signatures of people voicing their protest over the bans.
“We are concerned because the guidelines leading to the ban of one’s books are vague and the decision by the Government is often arbitrary.
“Some of the banned books have also been published and widely sold in stores for some time but then, the Government decided to confiscate them.
“We didn’t even know the books had been banned until we read about it in the newspapers,” she told reporters here on Tuesday, pointing to a book published by SIS -- Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism -- as an example.
“We want the ministry to call for a consultation with all the parties involved in the publication of books to resolve this matter. Banning books has a negative effect on information and intellectual development,” she pointed out.
Maria said the non-government bodies also wanted to know if the writers would be compensated for losses suffered when their books were damaged or destroyed in the confiscation process.
The book above was edited by Prof Norani Othman from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, who was also present.
Prof Norani said she was only knew that her book had been banned during Hari Raya Aidilfitri in October and only received official notification of it from the ministry about two weeks ago.
“The book was published in September 2005 and is research containing 12 chapters from 11 Muslims countries detailling how Islamic fundamentalism has affected society, particularly women’s rights.
“However, the letter from the ministry claimed that certain parts of the book have questioned Islamic teaching and faith,” she said.
The postcards were handed over to the ministry’s Publications and Quranic Text Control Unit secretary Che Din Yusof.
Sim Leoi Leoi
The Star
10/12/08
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