PM Najib must haul up Utusan if he wants to be taken seriously

Inflammatory articles

Malaysia Chronicle

DAP has asked Prime Minister Najib Razak to walk his talk and take action against the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia for extremism and fomenting racial hatred, warning that his inaction would jeopardize the already fragile race relations in the country and make nonsense of his 1Malaysia slogan.

“The Prime Minister’s failure to act will not only mean blanket approval for Utusan to continue its reckless actions against the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, but it will also mean the height of irresponsibility by jettisoning of his own “1 Malaysia” goal,” DAP information chief Tony Pua said in a statement on Friday.

“Instead of just expressing his ‘sadness’ on the ‘rise of extremism’ in the country without naming those guilty of the so-called ‘extremism’, Datuk Seri Najib should openly reprimand parties who repeatedly lie and slander to harness the feelings of ill-will and extremism among the rakyat, especially Umno’s own Utusan Malaysia.”

Sadness

In a widely-panned Malaysia Day speech, Najib said he felt “saddened” by rising extremism in the country but couched his words so vaguely that no one knew who and exactly what he was referring to. This not only drew accusations of cowardice but also cynicism that he was really serious about getting tough with ultra-rights groups such as Perkasa and Utusan itself.

"It saddens me that despite living in an independent multi-cultural nation for over 50 years, there are still those among us who cannot tolerate, much less accept the benefits of a diverse society. It saddens me because by rejecting our diverse way of life, they reject 1Malaysia," Najib said.

His sadness followed a warning from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz. Just days ago, Nazri had warned Utusan for a series of reports where it had supported Perkasa’s barely-veiled anti-minorities stance, even though Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan had distanced Umno from Perkasa.

“I cannot understand Utusan. Who is their boss — Najib or Dr Mahathir (Perkasa's patron)? I wonder sometimes if they have an agenda to bring back Dr Mahathir to replace Najib. They should be promoting Najib’s 1 Malaysia and not undermine his programme,” Nazri said.

Umno, Utusan and Perkasa sandiwara

Indeed, the Umno-Perkasa row has sparked debate and much humor in the political circles. However, most pundits believe it is a ‘sandiwara’ or drama aimed at deflecting public attention from the Najib administration’s failure to put through meaningful social and economic reforms.

They also accused him of dumping Perkasa for short-term “political expediency” without any real intention to rid Malaysian society of the racism that is becoming deeply entrenched due mainly to Umno’s dependence on racial and religious politicking to stay in power.

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali

“The unethical and downright unscrupulous attempt byUtusan Malaysia to use any and every opportunity to slander and publish lies about the DAP with the sole intent to incite racial hatred among its largely Malay readers signifies the utter desperation of the Umno leaders to maintain its hold on power, even if it were to mean using immoral means,” said Tony.

“In recent weeks, Utusan has headlined inflammatory and slanderous stories such as ‘Nama Guan Eng ganti Agong’ and alleging that the MP for Serdang, Teo Nie Ching had delivered a religious sermon in a surau, which were all based on manipulated lies.”

And although Nazri has warned Perkasa, Tony pointed out that Najib has been defending and praising Utusan in recent speeches.

“In September 18 last year, he had at a breaking fast function at Sri Utusan Printing Complex hailed Utusan for ‘ethical and unbiased’ reporting. Just earlier this month, he told the public while breaking fast at The New Straits Times headquarters to “trust the mainstream media and not the alternative media which are based on half truths,” Tony said.