KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today dismissed a senior Islamic cleric’s challenge to Putrajaya over the Alkitab issue by linking it to the latter’s controversial fatwa on the poco-poco dance.

“The Perak mufti also asked us to stop poco-poco. So I mean, if we're going to deal with that, we'll never end this PC [press conference],” Hishammuddin said.

The Perak Fatwa Committee headed by state mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria had banned the poco-poco — said to have originated from Indonesia’s Sulawesi island — in January, saying that the energetic dance contained Christian and soul-worshipping elements.

Harussani said the state would maintain its ban on poco-poco even if the National Fatwa Council (NFC) gives the dance the green light.

The Perak mufti had also dared the federal government to repeal Islamic laws over the use of the word “Allah” following the Cabinet’s latest overture to Christians allowing Malay bibles to be brought into the country, in its move to pacify the community’s anger ahead of crucial polls in Sarawak.