GEORGE TOWN, Nov 25 — The support of some Umno leaders for the recent racist statements by self-styled Malay rights group Perkasa highlights an urgent need for legislation to unite Malaysians and punish those who seek to stoke division for personal interests, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.
The federal opposition lawmaker also called on leaders in MCA and Gerakan to push their Umno partner to publicly distance itself from Perkasa to prove the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s commitment and sincerity in opposing the Malay rights group,
The Bagan MP accused Umno of endorsing the group when Umno leaders failed to condemn Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali over his public call for the Malay and Iban version of the Bible to be burned.
“By fully endorsing Perkasa, how can Umno deny that it is an extremist political party that panders to racist ideology of dominance and superiority?” Lim asked in a statement.
He noted that Umno leaders not only failed to condemn Ibrahim but also that an Umno minister had even supported him.
“Worse, Umno supported the refusal by the Attorney-General to charge Ibrahim Ali for sedition,” he added.
Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, claimed both Muslims and non-Muslims were outraged by the public prosecutor’s attempt to justify inaction against Ibrahim by stating that he was only exercising his constitutional rights to defend Islam with no intention to offend Christians.
“Barely had that furore died down, when two days ago, Ibrahim urged Putrajaya to exempt only Bumiputera students who excelled from paying back loans taken from the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN),”
“He also wanted Putrajaya to take immediate action over the phenomenon of many more non-Bumiputeras than Bumiputeras being exempted from repaying PTPTN because they obtained first-class honours,” he noted.
Lim also accused Umno of supporting Perkasa who wants to discriminate against excellent students just because they are non-Bumiputeras.
He voiced his disappointment that despite Universiti Malaya student council president Fahmi Zainol calling for Ibrahim to be charged for sedition for inciting racial tension in the country, it will never happen.
“This is because the Sedition Act is clearly used as a political weapon to punish national opposition political leaders and academics who dare to question Barisan Nasional and Umno,” Lim said.
