KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan today told Malaysians that freedom of assembly means accepting all manner of peaceful rallies including those with “racist, chauvinist or communist” themes, two days before a planned rally allegedly to uphold the dignity of the Malays.

He said the Peaceful Assembly Act allows peaceful demonstrations to take place, even if they are “racist” in nature, and Malaysians must now accept it.

“According to the Act, police must allow the people to assemble, freedom of speech, everything is free. So I feel if it’s a peaceful assembly then they have the right to have an assembly,” he said at a news conference here.

“It doesn’t matter today if it’s racist or chauvinist or communist, if they want to have a rally it is allowed. Isn’t that what you wanted? We have to accept it,” he added.

Musa, however, stressed that the police should be cautious and take the necessary measures to keep the peace, to “take care of things” and not allow anything that can disturb the peace.

There have been conflicting statements issued on this Wednesday’s rally, with earlier reports citing Coalition of Malay NGOs chief Datuk Jamal Md Yunos claiming that the Himpunan Maruah Melayu is to uphold the rights and dignity of the Malays in the face of alleged attacks by the non-Malays on Malay leaders.

In his latest statement yesterday, Jamal, who is also Umno Sungai Besar division chief, insisted that the “red shirts” rally – so-called for their choice of t-shirt colour – aims to put an end to future rallies especially if they echo demonstrations held by the Bersih movement.

Jamal himself, however, has never identified himself as an organiser of the rally, only saying that he was assisting the organisers and speaking on their behalf.

Rally organisers Pesaka, however, appeared to have dissociated the event from Jamal and his “red shirts”, with Pesaka President and former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam stressing that their rally is known as Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu or United People’s Rally, and that it is open to all Malaysians.

Pesaka’s name only surfaced a few days ago, while Jamal and his group had been selling red t-shirts bearing a slogan in Malay that translate to “Malay Dignity Uprising, Padang Merbok, Bukit Bintang, Petaling Street, My Homeland”.

Earlier today, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) gave the organisers the green light to carry out their demonstration at Padang Merbok, after which the police said they would facilitate the rally.