Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has called on Malaysians to express their solidarity with BFM, after the radio station was fined by MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) for an interview with Reza Azlan, religious scholar and internationally acclaimed author.

“MCMC’s imposition of restrictive conditions on broadcasters and fine on BFM has shown that the government is afraid of healthy public debates and is not committed to political reforms which it has pledged to the people,” Teresa said.

In the interview with BFM last year, Reza had strongly criticized Malaysia’s ban on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims. Reza also said that the ban was “a political decision more than anything else”.

The MCMC had alleged in the letter to BFM on December 9 2014 that the station had breached certain conditions of the Content Application Service Provider license, that included obtaining the approval of the commission and advise from appropriate religious authorities (JAKIM) before airing any religious and Islamic programs.

The letter also included a compound of RM 10,000.00 for the breach of Content Code.

In the interview held on 21 October 2013, Reza, an expert on Islam and religions, said that the word ‘Allah’ was a generic term to refer to ‘God’

“Allah from the word Al-llah, that is the original word, Al-llah means God.

“Allah is not God’s name, whoever thinks that Allah is God’s name not only wrong, but is contradicting the Quran itself.

“This is not an interpretation, but historical fact,” he said.

His condemnation of the ban did not stop there; Reza also added that Malaysia was a laughing stock worldwide.

“This notion that Malaysian Muslims need to be protected by the court because you can’t think for yourself, you can’t make decisions on your own. We are laughing at you,” he said, explaining that the use of the word by non-Muslims was not a threat to Islam.

“A Taliban put a bomb in the Quran and took it to a mosque in Pakistan, where Muslims were slaughtered on one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar. You want to talk about threats to Islam? That’s a threat to Islam!” he said, angered by the ban was carried out in a democratic Muslim majority country such as Malaysia.

Teresa said that Malaysians should demand the right and freedom to listen to all views which constitute healthy and vibrant debates, “whether or not one agrees with his views” or not.

“Can there be a “best democracy in the world “if there is such infringement of media freedom by MCMC?” she asked, poking at Prime Minister Najib Razak’s talk of making Malaysia the best democracy in the world, in his speech made 18 September 2011.

She also asked Malaysians to pledge their support for BFM at the Facebook page, “I pledge RM 10 for BFM” – a page started by former head of Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Masjaliza Hamzah.

Teresa said that when she pledged her support for BFM at 12.20 pm yesterday, there were 1986 likes. She calls on more Malaysians to show their support for the radio station while protesting against MCMC’s infringement of media freedom. There are currently 2755 likes on the page-and counting. -The Rocket