Zahid Hamidi: PAS never asked for MIC to be circumcised

RANTAU POLLS | PAS is not a communal party as Pakatan Harapan leaders constantly try to portray, former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

Now a firm believer in cooperation between Umno and PAS, Zahid claimed that it was former Umno president and current Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who always instructed Umno to clash with PAS.

"He wanted us engaged in a never-ending fight," Zahid said in his inaugural ceramah at the Rantau by-election in Taman Angsamas yesterday.

According to Zahid, who is currently on sabbatical from his duties as Umno president, PAS has run the state government in Kelantan for decades without disharmony.

"How long has PAS ruled there? How many Hindus were killed? How many Chinese were killed? How many temples were destroyed?" Zahid said in a passionate defence of PAS' three-decade rule of Kelantan.

He also told his audience that the largest Buddhist statue in Malaysia is in Kelantan.

In further praise of PAS, he said it was never the sort of party to try to impose its beliefs on others. It never urged other parties to absorb the Islamic party's understanding.

"Some were worried about Umno-PAS and even BN-PAS cooperation. During that time PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang came to the office of MIC president SA Vigneswaran. Did Hadi ask MIC to undergo circumcision?" Zahid jokingly asked MIC vice-president C Sivaaraajh, who also present at the ceramah.

"There was nothing. Hopefully, in the near future maybe, the MCA will be visiting the president of PAS," said an ebullient Zahid.

He went on to praise BN candidate Mohamad Hasan, who has taken over as acting president of Umno.

"I am the architect of Umno-PAS cooperation. I am grateful to Tok Mat for following up on this close cooperation.

"Do not be fooled by those who want to divide us, for this is a matter of ummah (community unity). When we talk about our ummah, it does not mean we reject other races. Instead, we respect them," Zahid said before more than 200 attendees at the ceramah. - Mkini