KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — Hardline Islamists Isma told a gathering to protest an international convention against racial bias here today that equality will open the country to vice and wipe out Malay identity.
Its deputy president Abdul Rahman Mat Dali said declaring minorities as equals is akin to welcoming a Muslim’s house to “drinking” or “gambling”.
The group, known for making incendiary and racist statements in the past, rejects the ratification of the International Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
“Imagine we have opened our house to them and after we have done so they can drink in our house, they can gamble,” he said before some 150 people.
“That is why we cannot have equality. We can give them nationality, but never equal status,” he added.
Isma is among the nativist groups opposing ICERD and have joined hands with PAS and Umno to demand the government withdraw from recognising the treaty.
The movement has labelled all international human rights convention as anti-Islam, and today’s congress is among the series of ongoing activities meant to mobilise support.
Only 150 supporters are present at the congress, held at Umno-owned Putra World Trade Centre, a low turnout likely as a result of the government’s decision against ratifying the convention.
Despite the move, speakers at the congress continued to speak of ICERD’s supposed danger to Malay political rule.
In his speech, Abdul Rahman said the convention would wipe out the Malay identity and push the community, the ethnic majority, to the fringes.
“I don’t want my IC to say my race as multiracial, my religion as mult-religious... I am a Malay and a Muslim and this is Bumi Melayu,” he said.
Those supportive of ICERD have accused its counterpart of resorting to factual distortion and disinformation to tap into Malay insecurities.
They said the anti-ICERD movement are intentionally painting the campaign against anti-discrimination as a conspiracy to end Malay political rule and assert Chinese dominance.
Today, the Isma number two made the same allegation. Abdul Rahman, in implying that ICERD is a Chinese-planned conspiracy, claimed DAP was the real mastermind pushing for the ratification of the treaty.
“That’s what ICERD really is, just an attempt by (DAP) to no longer make the Malays as owners of their own country,” he said.
The allegation, albeit old, came amid escalating attacks against the DAP by nativist groups aligned to ousted ruling Malay party, Umno, just as the anti-ICERD movement gains momentum.
DAP leaders have abstained from issuing any statement regarding the treaty, yet these groups continued to lay the blame on the predominantly Chinese party.
