KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 ― In arguably the first government-sanctioned rally of its kind, thousands of ethnic Malays are expected to take to the streets here today to rally in support of Putrajaya that came under pressure in a rival protest last month.

Following last month’s Bersih 4 rally to demand political reforms and the prime minister’s exit, today’s two rallies ― Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu and Himpunan Maruah Melayu ― were organised ostensibly over insults to the Malay community during the overnight event.

Worryingly for ordinary Malaysians, the claimed insults are also predicated on the assertion that Bersih 4 was a Chinese-driven event that needed a response from the Malay community, leading to fears of racial unrest in multicultural Malaysia.

Dubbed the “Red Shirt” rally due to the some attendees’ plan to wear red to counter Bersih’s signature yellow that flooded the streets of Kuala Lumpur last month, its opponents include former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But it counts among its backers ― unofficially, at least ― the ruling Umno that is expected to mobilise tens of thousands for a display of support to rival that of Bersih 4.

“The red shirts rally is clearly an overreaction to the Bersih rally,” Dr Lim Teck Ghee of the Centre for Policy Initiatives told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.

A central figure in the rally today is Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Jamal Md Yunos, who leads a coalition of 250 Malay groups that have dubbed their planned rally ― separate from the official event ― “Himpunan Maruah Melayu” (Malay Dignity Rally).

Jamal was also the one who gave rise to early fears of racial unrest with his warning for non-Malays to stay away from the national capital during the rally to avoid provoking attendees, leading to murmurs of comparison with the 1969 race riots.

Although Jamal later retracted his warning, the remark along with posters promoting the event that alluded to violence already gave the rally an unshakeable image of aggression and hostility towards non-Malays.

The perception was enough to move former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam, whose Pesaka martial arts group is organising the larger ― and official ― “Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu” (United People’s Rally) to disassociate his organisation from Jamal’s.

While the two sister rallies are outwardly different ― Mohd Ali is seeking to portray Pesaka’s event as open to all races while Jamal unapologetically maintains his to be Malay-driven ― both are founded on the alleged insults that took place during the Bersih 4 rally.

Among his group’s eight demands that it will present in a manifesto today, Jamal’s coalition is seeking for Putrajaya to issue a warning to “Chinese with DAP ideologies” not to insult Malay leaders and to respect Islam as the religion of the federation.

“Our march is to show the solidarity among Malays, who have all this while been ridiculed and been made fun of by our friends who are also Malaysian in nationality, which are the DAP Chinese, to the point where we cannot take it anymore as we are squeezed and our leaders are blamed and insulted,” Jamal told reporters yesterday.

During the weekend, Umno senator Mohd Ali said the rally was announced as they can no longer bear the “insult” from the past four Bersih rallies for electoral reforms.

“We let it go for the first time, the second time, the third time, and now it is the fourth. If we allow it to go to the fifth time, where goes our dignity?” Mohd Ali said in a press conference.

But with conservative Malay groups such as Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia snubbing the rally, political analysts told Malay Mail Online that will likely to fail to attract a large attendance despite presenting itself as a counter-rally to Bersih 4.

Beyond physical support, a survey released yesterday also found that the rally did not have the moral backing of the very Malay community whose honour it is professing to defend.

According to the study by independent pollster Merdeka Center, less than a quarter of Malays in peninsular Malaysia supported the rally while over half rejected it as they fear only chaos and ethnic tensions will result from it.

“There are so many twists behind the ‘red shirt’ rally that people are not clear with their objectives,” Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s political analyst Dr Faisal Hazis told Malay Mail Online yesterday.

“Reform the electoral system. That's the best way to respond to Bersih. Not through aggressive, intimidating show of support like the ‘red shirt’ rally.”

It was suggested that PAS’s lack of support and alleged reluctance in mobilising its members for Bersih 4 caused it to be dominated by the ethnic Chinese.

Despite that, the Islamist party has since distanced itself from the “red shirts”, saying instead that ruling party Umno and the authorities will be judged by the public by how they handle today’s rally.

“Seeing as the rally is backed by Umno, the public can value how much the gathering will succeed in attracting the Umno grassroots… Will it play with racial sentiments?” asked PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.