Rough tactics deployed in Malay heartland

BN appeared to have resorted to brutish tactics in the desperate bid to stop Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim from making inroads into its traditional stronghold - the Felda areas.

The rowdy behaviour of BN supporters at the Felda Ghafar Baba in Machap, Malacca on Monday is an indication of the things to come as Anwar continue his push into the Felda settlements across the country.

Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him, who was present at the Monday incident, told Malaysiakinibetween 20 and 30 motorcycles as well as a dozen of cars with BN supporters abruptly turned up to disrupt the Pakatan Rakyat ceramah.

“Moments earlier before the ceramah, a group of Umno supporters had slapped a PKR man who was putting up the party flag to indicate that the talk was on schedule. Soon after, the group of 20 to 30 BN motorcycles and vehicles gathered to disrupt the traffic.

“Even while I was speaking to the crowd, the Umno and BN fellows were thrusting their motorcycles and making a lot of noise.

“I told them not to waste petrol and that if they wanted to engage in a debate, then do it properly and not to simply disrupt the talk,” he said, adding that the BN supporters nevertheless continued with their disturbance.

He said there was a crowd of between 200 and 300 people in the Felda settlement who came to listen to the ceramah.

“Many other settlers had also opened their windows to listen to the opposition ceramah as we want to strike at the Umno heartland. However, the behaviour of the Umno supporters was totally unnecessary.

“They created a lot of noise when Anwar and I took the stand. And when Anwar kick off the ceramah, they started calling him names, shouting that he was not wanted there.

“They also put up manila cards and chanted against the opposition leader, calling him many things,” he added.

Among them were Anwar’s purported support for the Jews and the sodomy allegations against him.

Umno members told not to make a nuisance

Sim, in his speech, urged the Umno supporters to engage in a healthy debate but they cranked up their noise instead.

The Kota Melaka MP said he was unsure whether there was any police report lodged but he knew that a PKR man was slapped.

Meanwhile, Sinar Harian reportedthat the BN supporters “purposely provoked” the attendees, and claimed that one BN supporter was punched.

A dozen of video clips on the incident wereuploaded on YouTube by pro-Umno supporters.

The clips show, among others, the supporters blasting Umno party songs with loudspeakers to drown out the opposition leader’s speech.

In the past few weeks, Anwar has been making his presence felt in Felda villages to garner Malay support.

It is believed that Malacca is the first state where Umno has employed such rough tactics against the opposition.

Videos on the ruckus