Make Sabah’s Bumi Muslims Malays? It was mufti’s personal stand, says Jamil Khir

Putrajaya is staying clear of a proposal by Sabah Mufti Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar to establish the Borneo state's Bumiputera Muslims as Malays.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom (pic), however, said he believed Bungsu's remarks did not mean he is forcing the Sabah Bumiputeras to be Malays.

"The government feels the statement was made in his personal capacity," he said in his written reply to Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan (BN - Keningau).

Jamil Khir said the government had always held on to Article 160 (Clause 2) of the Federal Constitution which defines a Malay as a Malaysian citizen born to a Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language, adheres to Malay customs, and is domiciled in Malaysia or Singapore.

He said the government's stand is in line with Islamic principles which adhere to the wasatiyyah concept and laws that encourage harmony and safety, irrespective of race and religion.

Last month, Bungsu had told a symposium that many of the indigenous Muslims in the north Borneo state still refused to call themselves Malays, unlike ethnic groups like the Javanese and Bugis in Peninsular Malaysia who today identify themselves as belonging to one Malay race.

"We need a programme to ‘meMelayukan’ [make Malay] these Malay tribes... If Sabah and Sarawak did not vote in the last polls, maybe we would have had a change in the government,” the mufti had reportedly said.

"For the sake of the Malay Muslim community, these Malay tribes who are already Muslims must be made Malay,” he said, referring to the Dusun, Bajau, Murut and others that make up Sabah’s many indigenous tribes.

His comments had earned him criticism from Sabah's Penampang MP, Darell Leiking, who said the mufti should be marched to the state’s Native Court to face justice.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had said the state government had no plans to adopt Bungsu's proposal and assured that the state would always continue to respect the diversity of the many native groups in Sabah. – October 30, 2013.