KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 ― MCA Youth, which opposes plans by Kelantan to impose hudud laws, will hold a nationwide campaign to tell Malaysians about the impact of the strict Islamic code.

Youth chief Chong Sin Woon said in English daily ,The Star, that hudud laws will be divisive.

“Nobody should try to divide us. We are not anti-Islam but as Malaysians, we must defend our existing rights under the Federal Constitution,” the paper quoted Chong as saying.

“The Constitution also clearly says that Malaysia is a secular state, which is far away from an Islamic nation,” he was further quoted as saying.

The campaign will in Kedah until go on until May 9 and will include street assemblies, forums, film presentations and a million signature drive.

PAS announced plans this month to introduce two private members’ bills in Parliament to allow it to enforce hudud in Kelantan.

But in doing so, it again resurrected the on-and-off conflict between DAP and PAS that dates back to the 1990s and which had kept the two from co-operating for decades.

It has also opened the door for rivals in BN, chiefly MCA and Gerakan, to tap the concerns of the Chinese community and target both PR partners.

Prior to Election 2013, MCA ran full page advertisements in The Star alleging that support for DAP was akin to vicarious support for PAS’s hudud and Islamic state goals.

In Islamic jurisprudence, hudud covers crimes such as theft, robbery, adultery, rape, sodomy, making unproven accusations of adultery, causing physical hurt, drinking intoxicants, apostasy, and acts contrary to Islamic belief.