Perkasa takes on non-Malays, Malays alike

The NGO labelled its critics as “blind” and “idiotic” for disagreeing with it and “testing” it through attacks.

KUALA LUMPUR: Perkasa was firing on all fours today together with its Youth wing in attacking Malays, Umno and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim, the youths claimed, was violating the Federal Constitution in Penang by allowing non-Muslims to use the Arabic term “Allah” for God and “blocking the growth of Islam” in the state.

They implied that non-Muslims using the term “Allah” was tantamount to them propagating their religion among Muslims. Perkasa Youth’s Irwan Fahmi Ideris, at his wing’s inaugural annual assembly, cited Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution which stipulates that state laws can be enacted to control or restrict the propagation of other religious beliefs among Muslims.

“We must rise up and defend our religion,” said Irwan Fahmi. “We want to defend our religion and race. However, when we talk about Malay rights, they call us racist. We are called racist when we defend our rights.”

“But when they talk about their race, they are said to have freedom of speech. Do all of you think this is fair?”

Lim clarified on Thursday that the question of non-Muslims not using “Allah” in Penang does not arise as the state had not enacted any such law prohibiting such usage, and added, that non-Muslims in Penang in any case don’t use “Allah” as they worship in Tamil, English and Chinese.

Besides Umno, Perkasa also slammed its Malay critics, especially a Group of 25 Eminent Persons, who recently penned an open letter calling for the Federal Constitution to be respected and the Rule of Law upheld.

Perkasa vice-president Abdul Rasyid Abdul Rahman, degenerating into name-calling as he stepped up the rhetoric and polemics, called the NGOs’ critics as “blind” and “idiotic” for disagreeing with it and “testing” it through attacks.

“Perkasa is being tested. When people start to attack, it means that people are scared of us and they will try to find space to ridicule what we are fighting for,” claimed Abdul Rasyid, the former Election Commission (EC) chairman, in his speech at the annual Perkasa conference in Kuala Lumpur. “I hope that those who are blind to Perkasa can open their eyes. They should not mock and ridicule us. More saddening is when there are Malays who are also criticizing us.

He reiterated that “these are the idiotic Malays and we need to have their minds changed. If they don’t want to be with us, let them just watch what we can do”.

He hastened to add that Perkasa – routinely given to attacking non-Muslims — was not against any race or religion but only wanted to protect the rights of the Malays and the position of Islam as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

“We only carry out activities to defend our religion and strengthen the position of our race. That is all, we do not touch on the rights of others,” he added. “The DAP is one of the parties that causes tensions. They are trying to block the expansion of Islam.”

Explaining Perkasa’s self-appointed role, as defender of Malays and Islam, he criticized the Umno leadership as “sick” and in need of many changes. “I don’t hate Umno, but those in Umno have to understand that there are a lot of things that have to be changed,” he said. “There is a youth leader but he does not seem to function. Don’t walk like a duck, care for the youths.”