NGO reps call on authorities to lift SOPs during mosque congregation

GEORGE TOWN – Representatives from several non-government organisations (NGOs) gathered after the Friday prayers outside the Al-Mustaghfirin Mosque in Sg Tiram, Bayan Lepas, here, to protest and demand for the state and federal governments to stop imposing standard operating procedures (SOPs) in mosques. 

NGO spokesman Azmi Jaafar called for the authorities to allow adherents to perform their prayers in tight rows without the need for social distancing.

“When SOPs are not followed in nightclubs, stadiums, trains, malls, swimming pools and hypermarkets, why should the government continue to enforce SOPs in mosques where the Muslims gather to observe their religious obligations?

“Why do they continue to impose SOPs at the mosques even though we are currently in Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan?

“Islam teaches us to interact. We have been tolerant, but we cannot allow this to continue.

“Therefore, the state and the federal government should answer to our demands,” he said

He said the group will demonstrate at Komtar next Friday, to alert the state executive councillor for Islamic affairs on the issue and will continue to demonstrate in other mosques in the state, until the authorities make a decision.

As it is very unfair to impose SOPs in mosques, where Muslims congregate to observe their religious obligations, he said the authorities should not test the tolerance of Muslims on this issue.

The gathering could possibly earn the ire of police after Southwest district acting police chief Jafri Md Zain had said no permission was given to any individual or NGO to gather at the mosque in Sg Tiram, Bayan Lepas, because it is against the regulations under Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan.

Jafri said the public is warned not to join the gathering as action could be taken against them under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act (Act 342), and Section 269 of the Penal Code.

In the video, a man claiming to be representing an NGO urged the public to be present at the gathering at the mosque to demand that congregations be allowed to perform prayers in tight rows. – The Vibes, December 10, 2021