Archbishop Bolly Lapok has criticized a leading Islamist politician for claiming Christian missionaries had converted the Dyaks of Borneo by fraud after their own faith had been rejected by the elites of England

Archbishop Bolly Lapok of South East Asia has criticized a leading Islamist politician for claiming Christian missionaries had converted the Dyaks of Borneo by fraud after their own faith had been rejected by the elites of England and Europe. In an article printed in the newspaper of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia), the party’s president Abdul Hadi Awang said “Christianity is no longer attractive in countries where there is a high level of education, such as Germany, France, Britain and other European countries. [Missionaries] brought their teaching to the interiors of our country like Sabah and Sarawak.” He further claimed missionaries had used fraud and deceit in evangelizing Borneo.“With due respect to him as a one of the political leaders, Hadi should put all of his condemning words in a basket and throw it into our Sarawak river. He is plainly mischievous,” the archbishop said. “I do not know what sort of books he is reading, what sources he is quoting or how he reached that observation. He is a person of no substance and has no right to talk about Christians or the Dayaks in Sarawak,” the archbishop told The Malaysian Insider.“Humans are imperfect, but to dismiss the whole missionary movement as rejected in Europe is completely arrogant and mischievous,” Archbishop Lapok said