Malay rights pressure group Perkasa has cried foul after the group and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) were accused of making "hate speeches" with impunity in Suaram's 2014 human rights report.
Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said Suaram was biased and deliberately tried to put Perkasa in bad light.
Syed Hassan said Perkasa's focus is defending the position of Islam, Malay rulers, Bahasa Melayu as the national language and special privileges of the Malays and the bumiputera.
He said these issues were all enshrined under the Federal Constitution.
"(Raising these issues) are lawful and as such, speeches made to defend these objectives cannot be deemed to be 'hate speeches'.
"On the other hand, those who deliberately challenge these aforesaid objectives and other articles in the constitution should be regarded as the 'culprits' of 'hate speeches' and should be duly charged and punished under the relevant laws," he said.
Syed Hassan also told Suaram that the definition of "hate speech" was debatable.
"There are two sides to the coin. "Hate speech" can be hateful and it can also be tolerable and acceptable. Depending on which side you are on! One must admit, it must be due to human failure when one chooses not to be objective in one’s own evaluation.
"For the relevant authorities to take appropriate actions and measures, they have to fall back on the prescribed Standard Operating Procedures.
"Upon reflection, many actions have been taken against offenders. That some had escaped actions can be be viewed as non-punishable offences by them. Trust in the system is paramount to good citizenship!" Syed Hassan added. - M'kini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.