SETIA ALAM, Oct 19 — Malaysia will never achieve racial unity if controversial right-wing groups like Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) continue to exist, a Gerakan delegate said today.

Tan Lai Soon, a delegate from Johor, in his speech at the party’s national conference, said these groups have serious “mental” problems, and oftentimes spout racially insensitive “rubbish” that he said incites hatred here.

“NGOs like Perkasa, Isma including individuals who have high levels of education and regarded as professionals, have always made nonsensical comments which have caused anger among the different races.

“I see them as people with serious mental issues, who are difficult to treat unless they are plagued by serious illness, or if they are dead,” he said during the debate session at the party’s 43rd National Delegates Conference.

Only then the country can solve its unity problems, he added.

“As long as they are there, it is a challenge for our country to be united and be safe,” he said.

Putrajaya has been increasingly accused of persecuting Malaysia’s religious minorities and giving groups like Perkasa and Isma free reign to champion their ideals, purportedly in a bid to appeal to its traditionally rural Malay-Muslim voter base.

Among others, the government has outlawed Shiah — the second-largest denomination in Islam — and pursued the Catholic Church over the use of “Allah”, the Arabic word for God, in a Christian newsletter.

Although prevalent over the decades, the use of religion as a political platform accelerated after Election 2008 when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its customary parliamentary supermajority in a so-called “political tsunami”.

As a result, pressure groups like Perkasa and Isma have grown increasingly vocal in their demands for the government to prioritise the community over all others in Malaysia.

Muslims make up 61.3 per cent of the Malaysian population, followed by Buddhists at 19.8 per cent, and Christians at 9.2 per cent, according to the latest census data from 2010.