Malaysia: National harmony law violates Rukunegara with nod to atheists, Muslim NGOs say

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File picture shows atheist professor Richard Dawkins posing for pictures beside a London bus displaying an advertising campaign with the words 'There's probably no God. Muslim groups claimed the National Unity Consultative Council’s proposed anti-discrimination law ‘recognise atheism and contravene the Rukunegara.’ — AFP pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — The National Unity Consultative Council’s (NUCC) proposed anti-discrimination law contravenes the Rukunegara’s principle of belief in God by recognising atheism, a coalition of Muslim groups have said.

In a column in Malay newspaper Mingguan Malaysia today, MuslimUPRo chief Azril Mohd Amin noted that the NUCC’s National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill 2014 defined “religion” as “any religion and includes any belief or lack of a religious belief”, which he said would include atheists and the freedom to renounce a faith.

“This clearly contradicts the Rukunegara’s first principle, which is belief in God,” Azril wrote.

The Rukunegara, or National Principles, are a set of five values introduced after the 1969 race riots to foster unity among Malaysians. -

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/national-harmony-law-violates-rukunegara-with-nod-to-atheists-muslim-ngos-s#sthash.asuH07uF.dpuf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rukunegara