KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Umno leader Datuk Jamal Md Yunos should stop making Petaling Street the focus of purported discontent against the Chinese as the #Merah169 rally has already conveyed its message, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed has said.

Nur Jazlan told the Umno leader seen as heading the first pro-Malay red-shirt rally to not proceed with another rally that is expected for tomorrow..

“Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Jamal Md Yunos should stop. Going further with another rally might actually be counter-productive to his previous efforts.

“A chance was given to him and his group to express their concerns but now, enough lah, stop,” he was quoted saying yesterday by local daily The Star.

Nur Jazlan reportedly said that Malaysians are allowed freedom of speech but should halt their actions when it comes to racial sensitivities.

“That is why the police are taking action. Even as a Malay, putting aside my position as a deputy minister and Umno member, I think he should stop,” he said.

In a press statement today, however, Jamal claimed that he had been misrepresented in news reports on his Wednesday statement on the possible rally at Petaling Street this Saturday, insisting that he had not intended to threaten or put fear into the public.

“Once again I wish to stress that I am not involved in the planning of that rally. What I wanted to convey the other day was only just my worries on the possibility of a riot if that rally really happens,” he said.

Jamal, who was one of the key personalities in the September 16 #Merah169 rally that saw racist insults hurled at ethnic the Chinese, said Wednesday that “red-shirt” protesters may return to Petaling Street this weekend and “riot” if the authorities do not crackdown on alleged sales of counterfeit products in Chinatown.

The police were forced to use water cannons to prevent protesters from entering Petaling Street during the pro-government September 16 rally that was attended by tens of thousands of Malays garbed in red shirts.

Traders in Petaling Street or Chinatown are reportedly considering closing tomorrow for fear of the possible riot, despite police assurances of security.

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim yesterday said that police will take action against Jamal if he was found to be inciting a riot, adding that he will be probed under Section 143 of the Penal Code.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had previously reportedly defended the #Merah169 rally that was organised to counter the Bersih 4 rally for institutional reforms, which appeared to be mostly attended by the Chinese, and was quoted as saying by Bernama that the “Malays also have rights” after being “slapped” four times.

The previous three Bersih protests, however, have seen a large Malay presence.