KLANG: The Selangor palace has shot down a statement in relation to Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi’s recent audience with the state Ruler.
Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, the Ruler’s private secretary, said the statement about the audience, issued by Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahir, was carried in several news portals.
“This statement is inaccurate and did not happen when Dr Yunus had an audience with the Sultan of Selangor,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had merely stated his stand on not preventing the Bon Odori festival, which to the Ruler was just a cultural event.
“He also does not prevent Muslims from attending it until a thorough study is carried out to determine if the festival is religious or cultural to prevent confusion among the people, especially Muslims.”
Mohamad Munir went on to refute the statement issued by Roslan that was published by the news portals.
The articles suggested that there were no problems between Selangor PAS and the Ruler after the audience.
It quoted Roslan as saying Sultan Sharafuddin had wanted to know PAS’ stand on the Bon Odori festival.
Roslan also reportedly said that Sultan Sharafuddin had given his views and that PAS had conveyed to the Ruler that it respected his stand.
On June 16, Dr Yunus was summoned to the palace for an audience with Sultan Sharafuddin.
Selangor Islamic Religious Council chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, Tengku Datuk Ramli Alhaj Tengku Shahruddin and Datuk Salehuddin Saidin, who are all members of the Selangor Royal Council, had been instructed to be present to witness the audience at Istana Bukit Kayangan.
For decades, the Bon Odori festival has been held in Selangor as a platform to inculcate goodwill between Malaysians and the Japanese community, as well as businesses present in the state.
The event has been going on without a glitch until recently when PAS vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), urged Muslims not to attend the festival as it had elements of another religion.