Bishop accuses Hasan of playing judge and jury

Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing described as “cheap triumphalism” the claim by Hasan Ali that the latter’s exposes on alleged Christian proselytisation of Muslims had a becalming effect on the issue which the former Selangor exco said was vindication for his stance.

“He has chosen to be both judge and jury on the matter and, after presenting a fragment of video evidence of a dubious nature, pronounces himself triumphant and vindicated,” commented the head of the Catholic Church in the Melaka-Johor diocese who is concurrently president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

“For a man of his education and expertise in motivational dynamics, this is shoddy work stemming from dubious motives,” remarked the Jesuit-trained prelate.

“Hasan Ali is in a man in search of a justification for his vaulting ambition - the classic recipe for the making of a charlatan,” opined the bishop.

Hasan, the former PAS chief of Selangor and member of the state executive council, had been raising the alarm over Christian proselytisation of Muslims since controversy broke out over a fundraising dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Centre a year ago.

The dinner, attended by a few Muslims, was the target of a Selangor Religious Affairs Department (Jais) raid motivated by suspicion that Muslims were being proselytised. The ensuing Jais investigation was inconclusive in its findings.

But Hasan, who was then in charge of the Islamic portfolio in the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor state government, claimed that Christian proselytisation had indeed taken place, a stance that eventually led to his sacking from PAS and his dropping as state exco member.

Hasan a ‘public liar’

Unfazed by these strictures, Hasan was reported to have said on Tuesday that the video evidence he and others have presented purportedly showing Christian proselytisation of Muslims had given pause to his critics like Bishop Paul Tan.

In response, the prelate said: “He (Hasan) must think I have nothing better to do than react to his every fulmination. It doesn’t occur to him that some of us have better uses of our time than to react to the rants of frustrated politicians.

“I don’t want to have to respond to someone has been seen to be a public liar on the non-issue of Christian proselytisation of Muslims.”    
Bishop Paul Tan said the strongest reproof of Hasan Ali’s claims lay in the general public’s refusal to be alarmed by them as reflected in the sparse crowds that have attended the rallies organied by Jalur Jati, Hasan’s self-proclaimed NGO set up to combat Christian proselytisation of Muslims.

“This showed the general public are not incited by Hasan’s inflammatory exertions and appear to know a rabble rouser when they see one,” he said.

“I give thanks and praise to God for the general good sense and composure of ordinary people who want peace in our diverse society such that they can go about their lives in tranquility,” he asserted.