JULY 15 — Anyone has the right to stage a protest about any issue, whether it’s against taxes or so-called religious insults, but racist rallies merely serve as a distraction from whatever issues the protesters are supposedly fighting for or against.

The Umno Youth rally at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday was unruly, with riot police having to hold back the demonstrators dressed in red shirts numbering about 150. They were protesting against Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming’s alleged Hari Raya Facebook posts that they found offensive. Protesters threw "hell money” at the DAP representative who accepted their memorandum. A video shows one of them shouting "Cina mati!” (Die, Chinese!).

Racist remarks were also made at a previous Red Shirt Rally where one protester called an ethnic Chinese journalist "Cina gila babi” (crazy Chinese pig). Why is it necessary to shout racist slurs at protests? The Red Shirts protesters looked like thugs who might have resorted to violence if not for the police who protected the staff at the DAP office.

If people were really offended by Nga’s alleged Facebook posts, they could have staged a peaceful protest at a public area like Dataran Merdeka instead of descending on an office like a mob.

It’s also questionable whether those who protested at the DAP headquarters really felt slighted, or whether it was a knee jerk reaction.

Anyway, in the interest of freedom of speech, people have the right to rally for or against any issue as long as demonstrations are conducted peacefully.

It’s just a shame that some Malaysians prefer to spend their energy protesting against so-called religious insults that do not actually affect their freedom to practise their faith freely.

Or better yet, other issues not related to religion that affect our daily lives, like the increasing threats to public safety i.e. shootings.

Unfortunately, all the Red Shirts really cared about was telling the Chinese and the DAP to go to hell.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.