Saturday August 25, 2007
Makkal Osai suspended
KUALA LUMPUR: The publication permit of Tamil daily Makkal Osai has been suspended for one month from yesterday.
The Internal Security Ministry made the decision to punish the newspaper for publishing a picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other on its front-page.
The photo had a caption quoting Christ as saying: “If a person repents his mistakes, heaven awaits him.”
The ministry said in a statement yesterday: “Makkal Osai has contravened a permit condition under subsection 6(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.”
It said the action against Makkal Osai was in line with provisions in the Act set out to ensure that newspapers did not publish articles or pictures which could threaten public security, harmony and morality, Bernama reported.
A day after the publication of the offending picture, Makkal Osai apologised for the oversight, with its general manager S.M. Periasamy saying the picture was mistakenly inserted by a graphic artist.
However, a number of non-governmental organisations and political bodies pressed for stern action against the newspaper.
The MIC even lodged a police report against Makkal Osai over the photo.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili supported the action, saying that stern action must be taken against those who flouted the law and mocked other religions.
Speaking to reporters after flagging off a Jalur Gemilang convoy of 100 Rukun Tetangga vehicles from Bandar Baru Kerteh to Kemaman yesterday, Dr Ongkili said such an act must be punished in accordance to the law or it would be repeated by others to cause religious disharmony in the country.
Makkal Osai or “The People’s Voice” was published as a weekly newspaper for 15 years before it became a daily in December 2005.
It is an offshoot of Tamil Osai which ceased operations in 1990 following a management dispute.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, however, expressed regret over the one-month suspension.
“It is an unfair and hasty decision when the council, including its Christian religious leader, had accepted the apology by the newspaper.
“It is our opinion that a warning would have been sufficient. We will appeal to the Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister to reconsider,” said its president Datuk A. Vaithilingam.
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