Hadi receives history lesson from Karpal
Karpal Singh says Hadi Awang was wrong in saying that there were no Muslims in the Reid Commission.
(Free Malaysia Today) – DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has taken PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to task for stating that the Reid Commission that drafted the Federal Constitution did not consist of any Muslims.
“The assertion by Hadi that the Federal Constitution was drafted by the Reid Commission which did not include a single Muslim in it is misleading.
“The Reid Commission comprised of jurists of international standing having in it two Muslims – Justice B Malik from India and Justice Abdul Hamid from Pakistan,” Karpal said in a press statement.
The Reid Commission drafted the Federal Constitution of Malaya in 1956 and its main purpose was to devise a constitution for an independent Malaya.
The other members of the commission were Sir Ivor Jennings (Britain) Sir William McKell (Australia) and it was headed by Lord William Reid.
Hadi said at a press conference in Terengganu yesterday that the status of Islam in the Federal Constitution would be changed from official religion to a “way of life” when Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government.
“In the world today, people know of two ways to describe the faith: one is what is adopted by the West by calling it a religion, which denotes the spiritual relationship between human and God, without mentioning it as a way of life.
“The second option is by calling it Addin, the way of life, which is more apt as it includes everything, from the spiritual to all other aspects of life.”
“It is not right to say Islam is a religion, the right way is to describe it as Addin, a way of life.”
Hadi said this after launching the Terengganu PAS Youth annual meeting in Kampung Kubang Lembek, Manir here yesterday.
Karpal said the Reid Commission also gave importance to Islam as the religion of the federation.
“Islam has been internationally accepted as a religion from time immemorial and the Reid Commission would have given the matter deep consideration and thought before including Article 3 in the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Hence, Karpal said that amending the Federal Constitution would be a wrong move.
He added that Hadi’s statement was not Pakatan Rakyat’s stand.
“In any event, Hadi, when making the proposal, was not speaking for Pakatan Rakyat as this matter has not been discussed with the other component parties of Pakatan,” said Karpal.
