THE Star today clarified the confusion over its interview with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa over remarks on khalwat raids.

The English daily, a day after Mujahid’s aide demanded a public apology, said it regretted the confusion which had arisen from its interview.

References to “no more knocks on the door in the middle of the night” and “no more breaking down of doors by the religious authorities” were not attributed to Mujahid and not his quote, it said.

“It was based on a reply to a question,” The Star said in a brief statement.

The daily also reproduced its question: “Let’s say someone commits adultery behind closed doors, which is khalwat. Now your officers can break down the door and arrest them. Will this change?”

To which the minister replied:

“I would advise all agencies under me, especially the enforcement officers, to not interfere with the personal sphere.

“This issue of enforcement of what you call khalwat has been misused – not all of it, but there have been times where it has been exploited and misused.

“The enforcement of khalwat falls within the state judiciary and is not exactly under my jurisdiction, but we can have a platform where we meet all state directors of departments of Islamic affairs and share the concerns of the federal government on these issues.”

“We regret the confusion which had arisen from the said report,” said the daily.

Yesterday, the minister’s aide, Siti Zulaikha Zulkifli, said The Star’s report on khalwat operations headlined “No more moral policing” in the print edition and “No more night khalwat raids or intrusion into Muslims’ private lives, says Mujahid” on its website provoked public backlash against Mujahid.

She urged The Star to publish an apology both in its print edition as well on its website over the inaccurate report.

The article caused a stir among Muslim conservatives, religious leaders, Muslim civil society groups and politicians.

Mujahid denied saying there will be no more khalwat raids.

Today, the minister said religious authorities breaking down doors during a khalwat raid were abusing their positions as the action was not part of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for cases where a man and woman are suspected of being in close proximity.

“Breaking doors does not follow the SOP. If there are such cases, it means that they have abused their powers,” he told reporters at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today. – October 8, 2018.