KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — PAS today accused the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) of double standards and aping “the West” in the fight against extremism.

The Islamist party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang referred to the ongoing debate over jawi lessons in vernacular schools that has divided the country and noted Suhakam’s objection when police intervened to prevent Chinese education group Dong Jiao Zong’s planned closed-door congress on the thorny subject.

He said that those who have been granted the right to speak their mother tongue have gone overboard and challenged the primacy of the national language and the jawi script.

“Let the West have their own interpretation of basic rights to the point where they place the rights of animals above humankind.

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“Malaysia has not reached the level where the wealthy have named pets as the heir to their fortune because of the collapse of the family institution, acknowledging LGBT and other acts that are against nature.

“The attitude of those who have been given the right of their mother tongue in challenging the national language and the jawi script is akin to someone who always want more and finally swallowing the body of those that have been kind and charitable to them,” he wrote on his Facebook page today, ahead of a planned street rally by the Malaysian Muslim Students Coalition (Gamis) against Dong Zong in the afternoon.

Hadi said Suhakam should recognise the “real extremists” in the country instead of blaming the police over their decision to request for a court order to stop the congress.

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The Marang MP pointed out that Suhakam took a different tack during the Kongres Maruah Melayu last year, saying that the meet could have dire repercussions on race-relations in Malaysia.

He said the police are tasked with keeping peace and public order and that Suhakam should have understood this before making statements about the force.

Suhakam previously issued a strongly-worded statement calling out the police for failing to act on violent threats against Dong Zong which aborted its jawi congress last week and getting a court order to bar the education group from holding its own meet.

In a December 30, 2019 statement, the commission said the controversy was also compounded by the police’s decision to seek a court order preventing the Chinese education group’s rally over the introduction of jawi lessons in vernacular schools.

Suhakam said the combination simultaneously undermined civil liberties guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and enabled those who used violence to impose their will on others.

Gamis is seeking to pressure the government to outlaw Dong Zong as a registered society and has called for public support in its street demonstration that was scheduled to start at 2pm from Masjid Jamek in the capital city.

Dang Wangi police told Malay Mail yesterday that Gamis had not given the required five-day notice for its march against Dong Zong, adding that the assembly would be regarded as illegal.