SULTAN of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s private secretary has denied that the ruler asked PAS to clarify its position regarding Bon Odori.

Mohamad Munir Bani said Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir’s statements to online news portal Free Malaysia Today are inaccurate.

“The statements ‘the sultan wanted to know PAS’ stance’ and ‘the sultan told PAS his views and PAS said it respects it’ are inaccurate and were not part of the conversation between the ruler and Selangor PAS chief Ahmad Yunus Hairi,” he said in a statement today.

“The sultan merely stated his stance that he did not stop the Bon Odori festival from taking place in Selangor as he is of the view that it is a cultural festival.

“The sultan said he will not stop any Muslim from attending the festival until an in-depth research is done to ascertain whether it is a cultural celebration or a religious festival to avoid confusion among Muslims.”

Yunus was summoned to the state palace yesterday, days after insisting that Muslims should avoid the Japanese festival next month.

Sultan Sharafuddin earlier directed the state Islamic Religious Department to not disrupt Bon Odori at the Shah Alam National Sports Complex on July 16.

Bon Odori became controversial after PAS’ Religious Affairs Minister Idris Ahmad discouraged Muslims from participating in the annual event, which he claimed is “influenced by elements of other religions” according to research by the Islamic Development Malaysia Department.

It has been held for 40 years, and is a social event for the Japanese community and companies to foster goodwill.

Sultan Sharafuddin in a statement last week said he found the celebrations do not include any religious component or rite. The ruler visited the event with the then Japanese ambassador to Malaysia in 2016. – June 17, 2022.