KUALA TERENGGANU, Nov 19 – Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said today lashed out at the State Religious Affairs Department (JHEAT) for having kept him in the dark on the recent brief reappearance of deviant “Sky Kingdom” cult leader Ayah Pin in the state.
“JHEAT did not give me any report. I don’t know, that’s the weakness of the religious office,” he told reporters after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting at Wisma Darul Iman, here.
He said none of the JHEAT officers had approached him up to now despite the matter being a hot topic of conversation.
Last Friday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said Ayah Pin, whose real name is Ariffin Mohamad, had sneaked into Terengganu recently for a short period.
He said the police were about to pick him up but the State Religious Affairs Department told them to leave him alone.
Ahmad said JHEAT should have been more proactive and detained Ayah Pin, and left the question of his innocence or guilt to the law enforcement authorities.
“If he (Ayah Pin) was deviant and had broken the law, action must be taken against him according to the law. Why must we let him go? If we have been looking for him in the first place, why must we let him go when he returns?” he said.
“The problem is the religious department officers are good at talking but do not want to act,” he said, adding that this attitude of the department was improper and could be assumed as weakness by the people.
The government cracked down on Ayah Pin’s Sky Kingdom commune in Hulu Besut in 2005, and the cult leader is believed to have fled to southern Thailand. – Bernama
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They enjoy going after people like RPK and company.
And I am waiting for a fatwa on this.