Akmal is done hoisting with his own petard

Yes, finally after many attempts, Umno Youth leader Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh got his two minutes of fame and infamy that came after it.

Two years ago, at the Umno general assembly, he called party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi a “political dinosaur” but did not have the gall and gumption to stand up and be counted.

Instead, he meekly apologised.

Subsequently, he was full of praise saying: “Personally, I made a general Facebook post about political dinosaurs. Honestly, the posting was not referring to Zahid but I was informed that he was slighted.”

Last September, he was again in the news by posting a three-minute video that went viral on social media

It showed Akmal was seen chastising a rice wholesaler who allegedly refused to sell local rice with a price set at RM26 for 10kg.

It got little or no traction but it did not stop him from wading into the bak kut teh issue which resulted in Tourism Minister Tiong King Sing schooling him on the dish last month.

In asking Akmal to stop “racist extreme politics”, Tiong told him that if he did not know the meaning of “bak kut teh”, he should have checked the dictionary before embarrassing himself, his party, his race, and the country.

Deliberate attempt

But despite the brouhaha stretching into days, no one bothered to check how the socks got past our customs officers at the port or the airport.

It can be argued that it would be impossible to check every item in a consignment but shouldn’t the same leeway be granted to the importer or the retailer?

I wrote last week, that no one in his right mind would want to misuse religion knowing the sensitivities, especially went it comes to Islam.

But some politicians even see an oversight as a deliberate attempt to undermine their beliefs - religious or otherwise.

Even if unreserved apologies are proffered for such lapses, they are ignored Like rottweilers, they stand their ground and wait for the next step to be taken in a dance of ritualised intimidation.

Some view these as opportunities to further their cause - political or personal. Even when they discover their folly, they will not retreat and only shut up when commanded.

Even the odd one will defy the orders as we have seen in the socks-gate issue - even defying Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s pleas.

He told the public not to be a prosecutor or judge over the issue of as vigilantes started cropping up to champion the matter.

On Wednesday, Yang-di Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar issued a decree of sorts, asking all parties to stop taking advantage of the issue saying it should now be left to the authorities.

But can we expect the same when pseudo-preachers and self-appointed defenders of the faith continue to belittle the religious beliefs of others?

In a commentary titled “Inconsistency begets accusations of double standards”, I referred to the case of Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s arrest and prosecution.

I wrote: “Lesser mortals are dragged out of their homes, handcuffed and driven hundreds of kilometres just to have their statements recorded, but Sanusi intimated he wanted to bypass the arrest and head to court.”

‘No one is above the law’

In 2019, a video clip emerged on social media featuring preacher Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu, who made disparaging comments about Hinduism.

Controversial preacher Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu

But the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) declared that no charges would be pressed against him for allegedly insulting Hinduism.

Three years later, two individuals applied for a judicial review to challenge the AG’s decision.

In dismissing the application, High Court judge Wan Ahmad Farid said that the petitioners had failed to prove mala fide (bad faith) on the part of the AG in his decision not to prosecute the alleged offenders.

The application was filed after deputy public prosecutor Ainul Amirah had previously told the Magistrate’s Court that the AG had no plans to prosecute the duo.

Ainul added that the AG was unwilling to prosecute the preachers as police had classified their cases as “no further action”.

It is happening again and apparently, a new video has emerged.

On Tuesday, a group of Indian lawmakers, mostly aligned with the coalition government, urged the Home Ministry to take strict action against Zamri.

Jelutong MP RSN Rayer said this is due to Zamri’s recent remarks that allegedly insulted Hindus in the country.

I previously wrote: “‘No one is above the law’ may be an overused phrase, but surely the law must be applied equally and fairly to everyone - preachers included.”

In light of the furore over religion, what I then wrote is still applicable but will the police and AG provide some answers as to why there has been no prosecution? - Mkini

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R. NADESWARAN reiterates that the police must enforce the laws of the land without fear or favour. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.