Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges you to contact your Congressional Representative on this matter to call for immediate action to continue the funding of the important work of the USCIRF. Note the House of Representatives was targeted to adjourn on December 8 – so please make that call TODAY!
December 6, 2011: “The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom regrets to have to bring to your attention the attached resolution, which we understand to reflect our legal obligations to prepare to cease all operations unless reauthorized by December 16, 2011. It remains our most fervent hope that the Commission will be reauthorized, so that it can continue its vital work in advising the President, the Congress, and the Secretary of State. The Commission expresses its sincere appreciation to all those who have supported, and remain supportive of, the continuation and reauthorization of the Commission’s mandate and work.”
===========
UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
RESOLUTION (12/6/11)
WHEREAS the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) shall expire on December 16, 2011, in the absence of either enactment of reauthorizing legislation by the Senate and the House of Representatives that is duly signed by the President of the United States by that date, or, enactment of provisions specifically extending USCIRF’s operations in another continuing resolution or other measures, should any of these be adopted by the Congress; and
WHEREAS Federal law requires USCIRF to undertake certain fiscal and administrative measures to ensure an orderly and financially solvent closure of the agency before its expiration; and
WHEREAS the Government Services Administration has notified USCIRF of the need to initiate such measures;
BE IT RESOLVED that, effective immediately, all USCIRF personnel shall, under the direction of the Executive Director, undertake any and all steps that are necessary to ensure that, in the event of USCIRF’s expiration on December 16, 2011, USCIRF will shut down in accordance with all applicable Federal laws and regulations.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that USCIRF personnel shall, under the direction of the Executive Director, take all necessary steps to preserve and archive any and all records of the Commission.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that USCIRF’s Executive Director shall determine whether and where said records can be archived and make appropriate arrangements for their transfer upon expiration of the Commission.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution be transmitted to all Members of Congress, the President of the United States, and the Secretary of State, and that this resolution be posted as well on the USCIRF website.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at tcarter@uscirf.gov, or (202) 523-3257.
The protesters paraded a cow’s head, which Hindus view as a sacred animal, and the protesters reportedly spit and stomped a cow’s head, and made offensive comments. The Malaysia Insider reported on August 29, 2009, that the protester said that the Hindu temple’s “noise” would “would disturb their own praying, and that they would not be able to function properly as Muslims.”
The Malaysia Insider also reported that the “group of 50 over protestors marched shortly after Friday prayers from the Shah Alam State mosque to the State Secretariat. ‘I challenge YB Khalid, YB Rodziah and Xavier Jeyakumar to go on with the temple construction. I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension will happen if this goes on, and the state will be held responsible,’ shouted Ibrahim Haji Sabri amid strong chants of ‘Allahu Akbar!’ Ibrahim identified himself as the Deputy Chairman of the Resident’s Committee against the building of the temple in S23 here, which is perceived by some as being a Muslim majority area. He told the press that the state should move the temple to Section 22 as ‘originally planned’, and also labeled Khalid a ‘traitor to the Malay race and Islam’.”
Free Malaysia Today stated that the protesters “had marched with the bloodied head from a mosque to the Selangor menteri besar’s office.”
Malaysia: Protest Against Construction of Hindu Temple (Photo: YouTube)
According to Voice of America, “The group marched the cow head to a government building where they stomped and spat on it – an offensive act to Hindus who consider the cow a scared animal. Each of the 12 men was charged with illegal assembly and ordered to pay $320 for taking part in the protest against plans to build the temple in a Muslim-majority neighborhood. Two others were given additional fines for sedition, or creating tension among races, and one was sentenced to a week in prison without explanation.”
Free Malaysia Today reported that Malaysian Hindu Sangam adviser A Vaithilingam felt that the punishment could be seen as inadequate. It quoted him as stating “the sentences seem to be very light after the huge commotion and insult,” and that the Hindu temple protesters “stirred up the emotions throughout the country. This could have caused a riot”.
Reuters reported that: “Critics said the light sentences may further strain race relations between Muslims, who make up the majority of the country’s 28 million population, and minority Hindus and Christians who complain of discrimination.”
In September 2009, the Malaysia Star reported that “The Selangor Government has identified a new, more suitable site for the relocation of the 150-year-old Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu temple in Section 19 here. A press statement from the state government said that the new site is still in Section 23 but was more strategic and located 100m from the original relocation site and 400m from the residential area.”
Sri Mahamariamman Hindu Temple, when it was located in Kuala Lumpur
AP reports that “The conflict highlighted frustrations among minorities about strict government guidelines that restrict the number of non-Muslim places of worship, partly based on whether enough non-Muslims live where a church or temple is to be built. Authorities in Selangor eventually found a new site to build the controversial temple.”
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
We urge those who promote hate and intolerance to unburden the hate from their hearts.
