KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Datuk Mohammad Agus Yusoff has today slammed hardline Islamist group Pembela for scaremongering, after the latter warned Muslims that the floodgates of apostasy would open under the current Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim administration.
The director-general of the Community Communication Department (J-Kom) in the Prime Minister’s Department also urged youths to reject such ethnoreligious sentiments, and to become agents of compassion in nation-building.
“As a student of politics, I reject racist politics. I dream of a united Malaysian nation. I am bored with the political narrative that tries to sow hatred among us,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Therefore, I urge the youth and Malaysians who want to see us progress to reject this racial and religious sentiment, let alone sentiment without facts and data. To me, this is the view of those whose minds remain under captive.”
Mohammad Agus said that the article published on Pembela's website had falsely claimed that the position of Islam in Malaysia is under threat because of several unnamed cases that are purportedly challenging the constitutionality of Islamic laws.
“This article is irresponsible and misleading. The statistics are not stated. How many court cases? What has the government or non-Malay done that Islam is threatened?” he asked.
“The title was also scaremongering, used only to incite racial emotions so that the Malays would reject the current government that is allegedly not taking care of the interests of Malays and Muslims.”
To back his argument, he pointed to the commenters on that article which he founds to be very emotional and ugly.
He also pointed out that the reactions of commenters supporting the article are emotional and ugly.
“Among them are those asking the government to protect the religion, not to follow the directions of the infidels. There are also those who claim that this government is envious of the rise of Islam and this is an act of treason. Further, some ask where the Agong is.
“In the end, they are calling for the Malays to rise because Islam is threatened,” he warned.
Mohammad Agus said that there are individuals who use racial issues to intimidate the ethnic majority Malay by claiming their race and religion are endangered almost every day.
“This kind of sentiment if it is coordinated can create racial tension. Our country has gone through tragedies due to these ethnic tensions such as the events of May 13, 1969, Memali 1985, and Operation Lalang 1986,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is advocating for his “Madani” concept to foster a new way of thinking among Malaysians, but is facing opposition from some who see it as threatening the Malay-Muslim status quo.
