Former IGP ready to face brickbats after making a stand against hudud

Former IGP Tan Sri Rahim Noor speaks his mind about hudud, the law and police jurisdiction – and stands ready to face any brickbats.

THE former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor has come out strongly against PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s Private Members’ Bill to
amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act. 

He dismisses the notion that the Bill is merely to enhance the Syariah system. Instead he sees it as a “tactic” that PAS is using to push further for hudud (punishment under Islamic law). 

In a plural society like Malaysia where non-Muslims make up about 40% of the population, Rahim fears such a move could fracture national integration and might even push Sabah and Sarawak to go their separate ways from peninsular Malaysia. 

For him, all citizens should be dealt with equally under the law. “If the punishments in the (civil) criminal jurisprudence are not severe enough, what’s wrong with us enhancing the existing civil laws? There is no need for hudud,” he says.

The following is an interview with Rahim on May 31.