KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 ― The National Patriots Association (Patriot) today said Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin may have been misinformed that Muslims are being “bullied” under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
Its president Brig-Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji said Mohd Asri's recent assertion is possibly driven by misinformation peddled by certain political parties aiming to sow public discord towards the new government.
“It all depends on which side of the news the learned mufti chooses to lend his ears to. Surely he cannot be ignorant of the work by spin masters concocting lies on race, religion and royalties issues, the bullets of last resort; as the Opposition parties have nothing on national issues to fault the PH government with.
“Peddlers of fake news are aplenty in the arena of psychological warfare of racial politicking. By listening to uncorroborated grievances of the people, then his concerns are misplaced,” he said in a statement.
The vocal Perlis mufti took to Facebook Monday, claiming PH leaders did not do enough to defend Islam.
In response, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called Mohd Asri “deaf” for not paying attention to the government’s efforts for Muslim welfare and other concerns.
In his statement today, the Patriot chief told the Perlis mufti that the government’s primary agenda must be on restoring Malaysia’s economy which has been “raped with successive scandals by the previous administration”.
Arshad also said the PH government’s recent bailouts of primarily Malay institutions showed they were working for the good of the public, the majority whom are Muslims.
“The government allocated RM 6.3 billion to rescue Felda, and another RM 17.8 billion on a restructuring plan for Lembaga Tabung Haji. These bailouts of RM 24 billion to solve problems created by the past administration are a huge amount, and the non-Malays are not protesting.
“BN-era infrastructure contracts given to Malays/Umno cronies are allowed by the Finance Ministry to continue after renegotiation, saving a meagre sum of RM 806 million. If these actions of the government are not considered kind towards the people, particularly the Muslims, then what is?” asked Arshad.
He also said the issue of the arrest of independent preacher Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu for allegedly insulting Hinduism, which Mohd Asri seemed to have protested, is an isolated issue.
“Let the investigation runs its course. Patriot would like to reiterate that no one, no preacher, whatever the religious denomination, should make comparison on one’s religion with the others. Doing so would invite animosity that will divide further our society that is at the lowest ebb now,” he said.
Arshad also said that Mohd Asri had lost all credibility for not speaking up enough against the past administration for their alleged wrongdoings.
“A mufti as head of the Islamic religion in the state must also propagate unity among all races from different religions. Every religion advocates understanding, tolerance and respects each other’s belief.
“The reality on the ground is that Mohd Asri and his cohorts who are prejudiced, sow hatred and spin lies to create uneasiness and distrust, should be stopped. For the future of our country to be prosperous, peaceful, and to safeguard our future generations, they must start thinking as Malaysians,” he said.
