Sadia Kapit slams unfair scholarship interview by MARA religious extremists

KAPIT: The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) Kapit branch has slammed Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) for allegedly using Islamic-based questions for non-Muslim candidates during a recent scholarship interview in Kuching.

Sadia Kapit chairman Edward Manggah Kendawang said if proven to be true, Mara must take steps to ensure it never happens again.

“To ask non-Muslim students questions on Islam is wrong and should be stopped forever. It is most unethical and clearly a sign of racism and discrimination,” he said, stressing that such an act is contrary to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.

“In future when interviewing the indigenous people of Sarawak, I would suggest that the interviewers, at least one of them, must be an indigenous Sarawakian — Iban, Bidayuh, or Orang Ulu.”

He called on students who faced similar problems to highlight it to Sadia.

“We’ll bring it up to the higher authorities. You see, I’ve met a few parents and they are very angry about this issue. They want the police to take action against the concerned officers for disciplinary action. To the parents, these interviewers’ actions are racist and shouldn’t have happened in Sarawak,” he added.

“Sarawak state, we are  truly 1Malaysia. Anybody with this type of mentality should not come to Sarawak. Our Chief Minister Tan Sri (Datuk Amar) Adenan Satem has done the right thing to stop these people from coming to Sarawak. Their presence will destroy the existing friendly, tolerant and respectful practices that have prevailed in Sarawak since ancient days.”

Straight-A student Nigel Unchat Jeremaiah claimed he and other non-Muslim students were asked to name the prophets of Islam, precepts of Islamic prayers, as well as their opinion on Hudud law among other Islamic-based questions during the scholarship interview.

On Wednesday, Mara state deputy director Mariam Mohtar confirmed that the interviewers from Mara headquarters in Kuala Lumpur are currently being investigated as part of a probe on the issue.

Source: The Borneo Post