Written by Malaysia Chronicle
KUALA LUMPUR - Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim ticked off
Umno leaders who have recently hit the headlines with outrageous comments that
were clearly racist in nature.
"Now I have said on the 31st of August when
I called for for dialogue the issue of racism and religious bigotry is
paramount and since then it has gotten worse. The Umno election is not about
governance or the welfare of the Malays but about the race card," an
incensed Anwar told a press conference on Wednesday.
"Why blame the Chinese or the Opposition?
Who squandered the funds, who squandered timber land, who squandered billions
of contracts for their families and cronies? Who are the richest Malays? These
are the family members of the umno leaders. Who managed to get the Petronas
contracts, the big contracts? Why blame the Chinese or the Opposition or
whoever? Why can't we learn to work together and deal with this amicably?"
Anwar had been asked on whether he felt Umno leaders such as Home Minister Zahid Hamidi and former Malacca chief minister Ali Rustam had overplayed their hand in criticizing and blaming the Chinese for an assortment of ills plaguing the country including escalating crime, and for Ali Rustam, even the loss of his Batul Katil parliamentary seat.
Deep anger and resentment
amongst the minorities
The outrageous comments of the two Umno leaders
who are both vying to make the cut as vice presidents in the October 19 Umno
election have triggered a backlash of negative publicity for the country as
well as stirring up deep resentment and anger amongst the minorities.
"Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi made remarks in a speech in
Malacca on October 6, 2013, that showed gross indifference for the right to
life and the rights of the country’s minority populations," international
NGO Human Rights Watch said in a statement issued today.
The well-respected NGO is the latest to join the
chorus of calls spearheaded by Malaysian activists demanding that Prime
Minister Najib Razak removed Zahid from the Cabinet, and to chastise Ali Rustam
for his blatantly racist comments.
"After hearing the home
minister, I really want to know what MCA and MIC are doing in BN. Have some
self-respect please and walk out!" former Malaysian Bar Council president
Ambiga Sreenevasan had tweeted in response to Zahid's comments. Ambiga, who is one of Malaysia's most prominent
civil society leaders, was referring to the Chinese and Indian component
parties in Najib's ruling BN coalition.
Go back to school, Zahid
In his speech, Zahid had also controversially
admitted that the police had a 'shoot-first' policy and did not need to warn
their suspects as the victims of these criminals were "mostly our
Malays".
"Zahid should get some basic training in
basic law. Yes, the police have a right to defend themselves but to shoot first
without warning is totally different," said Anwar.
"I am speechless at
what the Home Minister said in Malacca. It shows he has no understanding of, or
respect for the rule of law. He is supporting police who are trigger happy. I
am very disturbed by the shocking racism and racial profiling in his speech
which portrayed Malays as victims of all crimes and non-Malays as the
perpetrators,"Ambiga had also told Malaysia Chronicle.
No comments:
Post a Comment