Of 'Iblis', Israel and Palestine: Stop the name-calling and thuggery, Surendran tells Umno

I refer to Minister Nazri Aziz's abuse of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as 'iblis' (devil) over the Israel-Palestinian issue. It is a measure of the BN's increasing desperation that they are now resorting to crude name-calling against the Leader of the Opposition.

Anwar's stand on the Middle-East conflict as reported in the Wall Street Journal is consistent with the position of Fatah and Hamas, and the just aspirations of the brave people of Palestine. Keadilan and Pakatan Rakyat have always stood against injustice, both in Malaysia and throughout the world.

Contrary to our principled stand, recently de-classified letters show that former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir was anxious to establish normal relations with the State of Israel. In a letter to then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Dr Mahathir took the trouble to add a hand-written note that Malaysia desires ' normal relations with Israel'. In a letter to Ehud Barak, Mahathir talks about ' the hopes of the people of both Palestine and Israel ', thus equating the oppressor with the oppressed. Despite all this, UMNO-BN has been hypocritically and dishonestly attacking Anwar Ibrahim over the WSJ report.

Verbal abuse, thuggery and violence

The politics of verbal abuse, thuggery and violence has no place in a democratic and civilized nation. Yet, this is the path that UMNO has taken in recent months. Umno supporters have violently disrupted opposition ceramahs and other events, and threatened physical violence against Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

The BN government and the police have shown no interest in taking serious action against the UMNO-linked political thugs who are now operating with impunity. This BN-inspired fascist trend in our politics is a matter of grave concern to all responsible and decent Malaysians.The rakyat can now clearly see who the real devil is: oppression, corruption, economic mismanagement and arrogance are the hallmarks of Umno-BN's rule of this country.

The conduct of Nazri Aziz in verbally abusing Anwar Ibrahim is embarrassing and unbecoming of a cabinet minister. I call upon Nazri Aziz to immediately retract and apologize for his uncivilized verbal abuse of Anwar Ibrahim. UMNO must take responsibilty for Nazri's remarks and equally tender an apology.

UMNO-BN must cease the politics of name-calling and thuggery, and instead engage in rational and civilized political discourse. The people of our country deserve nothing less than that.

N SURENDRAN IS THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT