Kurup ready to meet Perkasa in court, to ‘defend national unity’

Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup denies ever naming Perkasa specifically in remarks attributed to him which condemned extremists creating discord in the country as 'public enemy number 1'. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 28, 2015.Unfazed by the defamation suit filed by Malay rights group Perkasa today, de facto unity minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup pledged to do "whatever is necessary to defend Malaysia's unity".

In shrugging off the suit, the minister in the prime minister's department said he is ready to face Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali in court.

"I must have done something right for Ibrahim Ali to sue me. I will do whatever is necessary to defend Malaysia's unity and am prepared to face Ibrahim Ali or anybody else in our courts. Truth and justice will always prevail," he said in a statement emailed to The Malaysian Insider.

He said peace and stability are the nation's "invaluable" wealth and the Barisan Nasional-led Federal government always strived to preserve these two pillars, which he described as “national treasures”. 

Failure to protect, preserve and strengthen the nation's unity would lead to the destruction of the country's economy and development, he added.

"As a minister overseeing national unity, I made a stand to not tolerate racial and religious bigotry tearing apart the fabric of this harmonious society. It is both my responsibility and mission to see such incidents of extremism nullified," he said.

In its suit filed at the Jalan Duta High Court earlier today, Perkasa claimed that Kurup had allegedly labelled the group as extremist.

Perkasa is seeking an apology from the Sabah minister over his remarks as well as damages.

In its statement of claim, Perkasa claimed that in two statements made on December 24, 2014 and yesterday, Kurup had allegedly accused Perkasa and another Malay non-governmental organisation Isma of being bigots who must not be tolerated.

He had also allegedly said “we must not condone their extremist voices and actions”.

Perkasa said the statements implied that it was an extremist group that used religion to spark violence and cause unrest in the country. The alleged statements also suggested that the group had caused fear and disunity in the country.

Ibrahim said because of such statements, Perkasa’s reputation has been damaged and the Malay rights group was viewed negatively by the public.

However, Kurup yesterday said he did not mention Perkasa nor did he refer to a specific group when dubbing extremists who play up racial and religious issues as “public enemy number 1”.

"The simple logic is that if these extremists are instilling fear in our society, jeopardising our painstakingly built unity and trying to hijack the Malaysian way of life, they are, therefore, the nation's public enemy No. 1," he had said in his opening address at the 17th Malaysia Strategic Outlook Conference 2015 yesterday.

- TMI