GEORGE TOWN, Jan 20 — Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid today lodged a police report against Permatang Pauh MP Muhammad Fawwaz Mohamad Jan over a Facebook post condemning non-Muslims.
She accused the PAS MP of using social media to fan hatred among his supporters.
"The statement, even though he claimed was written by his social media administrator and was deleted in haste, has the potential to threaten the unity of this country’s multi-ethnic population,” she said after lodging the police report at the Northeast district police headquarters here.
She said the statement could cause racial disharmony and it was not extreme for her to say that it could also lead to riots among races.
"This is wrong in the law as provided under Section 499, 505 (b) and (c) of the Penal Code including Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998,” she said.
Fawwaz had previously said on Facebook that non-Muslims were working towards bringing down Islam, and had called them "infidels".
He later took down the post and apologised, blaming the administrator of his Facebook account for making the statement and posting it on the social media platform without his knowledge.
However, Syerleena said that was not the first time Fawwaz has tried to create tension as the state polls draw near.
"He should deter playing on racial and religious sentiments as cheap publicity even though he may not have the intellectual capacity to debate on economic and policy issues that benefit the people,” she said.
Syerleena, who is also Seri Delima assemblyman, said Fawwaz should realise that he is an elected representative for all levels of society and not only for certain ethnic or religious groups.
"We hope the police will not stay silent on this and investigate Fawwaz for the sake of the nation,” she said.
Fawwaz also courted controversy last week when he found an issue with the sale of alcohol at the main lobby of Sunway Carnival Mall at Seberang Jaya, Butterworth.
He asked the mall to “conceal” its beer promotion activity at its central atrium to respect the so-called "sensitivities" of Muslims.
The lawmaker from the Islamist party PAS recently won against Nurul Izzah Anwar in the 15th general election with a 5,272-vote majority.
