PETALING JAYA: The government has been urged to focus on more pressing matters like alleged sexual abuses suffered by children in religious welfare homes instead of halal certifications for food outlets.
Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim took to X, formerly Twitter, to call out the recent announcement by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar that the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) was looking at mandatory halal certification for certain restaurants and food operators.
"Sodomy is now an epidemic. Young boys are traumatised and abused all over the country. Yet, our religious affairs minister is only interested in halal certificates," he wrote.
Zaid listed several cases in the past of children being sexually abused and called for action to curb such incidents from reoccurring.
"First, all religious and tahfiz schools must station a few officers from Jakim, similar to how religious departments and moral police monitor khalwat (close proximity) cases," he wrote.
Zaid also called for some of Jakim's RM1.5bil government allocation to be used to curb the sodomy epidemic.
"Shariah courts must also step up the prosecution of cases involving the sodomy of young boys. How many cases have they started to prosecute? None.
"Our leaders who are entrusted to protect the honour and dignity of Islam must act now before it’s too late.
"They must do more to get the administrators of Islamic affairs, both at the state and federal levels, to devise a transparent control mechanism to protect our boys," he added.
Zaid also urged parents to be more selective when sending their children to tahfiz schools.
"Not all men who teach religion are good. Protect our young boys and not just think about getting to heaven."
Sodomy Galore
The King has spoken. Act quickly to save the young boys at the GISHB homes. The tragedy of it all is this: any responsible government that claims itself Islamic should see it coming.
In 2017, eleven cases of sodomy and cruelty towards young boys were reported in...
— Zaid Ibrahim (@zaidibrahim) September 18, 2024
