Organisers of an inter-religious seminar on water privatisation have
been forced to make last-minute changes to their plans, as certain
quarters have withheld permission to hold it at the National Mosque in
Kuala Lumpur, its original venue.
The half-day seminar, entitled 'United for Water: Religions Speak on the Right to Water' and scheduled for today, has the backing of eight religious organisations and a number of civil society organisations.
National Mosque officials were said to have been supportive of the event and had extended their cooperation and its facilities to the seminar organisers.
The police were also said to have met the seminar's coordinator - Monitoring Sustainability of GlobalisatioN (MSN) - and several religious leaders, and expressed no objections to the event taking place at the mosque and were ready to issue permission to proceed.
The plans reached a snag, however, yesterday afternoon.
Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia's (Abim) deputy president Azril Mohd Amin - whose organisation is among the religious groups involved - received a telephone call from the Dang Wangi district police headquarters informing him that the police permit would not be issued.
The reason, Azril was told, is that the National Mosque's Head Imam had revoked his permission for the event to take place on its premises. The revocation, in turn, was based on police's advice, he added.
"I guess it's a chicken-and-egg question. The police say the mosque authorities withheld permission, while the mosque has said that the decision was made following the police's advice," said Azril when contacted.
No forcing the mosque
Whichever party was the one responsibility for the decision, the organisers will respect the authorities' decision, said Azril.
"Obviously, we're not going to force the event on the mosque," he said.
MSN director Charles Santiago, however, declined to reserve his criticism against whoever was responsible for the last-minute changes.
The half-day seminar, entitled 'United for Water: Religions Speak on the Right to Water' and scheduled for today, has the backing of eight religious organisations and a number of civil society organisations.
National Mosque officials were said to have been supportive of the event and had extended their cooperation and its facilities to the seminar organisers.
The police were also said to have met the seminar's coordinator - Monitoring Sustainability of GlobalisatioN (MSN) - and several religious leaders, and expressed no objections to the event taking place at the mosque and were ready to issue permission to proceed.
The plans reached a snag, however, yesterday afternoon.
Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia's (Abim) deputy president Azril Mohd Amin - whose organisation is among the religious groups involved - received a telephone call from the Dang Wangi district police headquarters informing him that the police permit would not be issued.
The reason, Azril was told, is that the National Mosque's Head Imam had revoked his permission for the event to take place on its premises. The revocation, in turn, was based on police's advice, he added.
"I guess it's a chicken-and-egg question. The police say the mosque authorities withheld permission, while the mosque has said that the decision was made following the police's advice," said Azril when contacted.
No forcing the mosque
Whichever party was the one responsibility for the decision, the organisers will respect the authorities' decision, said Azril.
"Obviously, we're not going to force the event on the mosque," he said.
MSN director Charles Santiago, however, declined to reserve his criticism against whoever was responsible for the last-minute changes.
While the seminar will take place, though at a different venue, it has
denied the opportunity for the Islamic authorities to demonstrate their
concern and sensitivity to an issue that affects the whole of society,
said Santiago.
"This is an event that has the involvement of respectable organisations, eminent religious leaders and organisations who are coming together to talk about the religions' perspective on the human right to water," said Santiago, who is also coordinator of the Coalition Against Water Privatisation.
"Because of this, Muslim groups will be seen as indifferent and insensitive to an issue that is of social concern," he said.
About 200 people have been invited to participate in the closed-door seminar, which will take place today at the Nube office on Jalan Tun Sambanthan in Brickfields, said Santiago.
"This is an event that has the involvement of respectable organisations, eminent religious leaders and organisations who are coming together to talk about the religions' perspective on the human right to water," said Santiago, who is also coordinator of the Coalition Against Water Privatisation.
"Because of this, Muslim groups will be seen as indifferent and insensitive to an issue that is of social concern," he said.
About 200 people have been invited to participate in the closed-door seminar, which will take place today at the Nube office on Jalan Tun Sambanthan in Brickfields, said Santiago.
No comments:
Post a Comment