Racism not working, Dr M turns to Islam: Says PAS bad Muslims

Mahathir - accused of being Malaysia's No.1 racist

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

In a bid to chop down the rising popularity of PAS in the Malay heartland, former premier Mahathir Mohamad took his Perkasa road-show to Kelantan, where he accused PAS leaders especially Spiritual Adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat of being bad Muslims.

Unsurprisingly, Mahathir drew fire from PAS leaders who pointed out that of all people, he had no credentials to stand on when it comes to Islam because of his perceived support for gambling and alcoholism.

“Mahathir is the one who has been pushing forjudi lessen, the sports betting licence. His son is the director of a huge beer company in Philippines. Gambling and alcoholism – who is Mahathir to tell us we are not good Muslims when he himself cannot pass the test,” Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin told Malaysia Chronicle.

Bringing in supporters from other states

Indeed, knowing that he was on shaky ground, Mahathir took care to pull in bus loads of supporters from other states including neighboring Terengganu and even as far away as Selangor and Perak.

Spoofed image - pundits bet Dr M controls Najib

Keeping him company at the Perkasa rally held nearby to Kota Bharu was Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali, who earlier on ticked off Umno leaders such as Khairy Jamaluddin, Tengku Adnan and Nazri Aziz for criticizing Mahathir. At one point in a recent row, Nazri had even called Mahathir a has-been.

Perkasa is an ultra-Malay rights group and Mahathir its patron. He is believed to have knocked out a deal to help Prime Minister Najib Razak campaign for Malay votes in the next general election, which pundits speculate could be called soon after Chinese New Year in 2011. Both Ibrahim and Mahathir took care not to criticize Najib, but they let rip at the other Umno liberals, who are regarded as being part of the Najib camp.

“Please tell Nazri that I have no intention in becoming the prime minister. He only became a minister because of me. People like this when we feed them rice, they will bite our hand. This is the type of leaders we have today,” Malaysian Insider reported Mahathir as telling the crowd when his turn came to speak on Saturday.

Attacked Nik Aziz, the symbol of PAS' religious core

At the Kelantan rally, Mahathir swiveled back and forth between racial and religious bigotry as he tried to persuade the mostly Malay crowd to hate and be suspicious of the other races.

Nik Aziz - revered in Kelantan

He tried to sink PAS by accusing it of selling out on Islam because PAS has refused to play the race card. PAS leaders have said that under Islam, ethnicities and racial background were not considerations but what was most important was the way the faith was being practiced and spread.

Nevertheless, it did not stop Mahathir from spewing venom at Nik Aziz, the head of PAS’s core religious group.

“Nowadays Nik Aziz allows everything. If a person wants to raise a pig farm next to Malay house, he said that it is permissible because the Quran only forbids us to eat pork. Willingness to allow what the opposition party is doing has caused Nik Aziz to make interpretations which are against Islamic teachings,” Mahathir said.

He also blasted PAS leaders for claiming that they are Muslims first and foremost. Nik Aziz had recently roiled Perkasa and Umno-owned newspaper Utusan by saying he was proud to be Muslim but not Malay.

“There are also those who are ashamed in being Malay. They say that are only Malay by fate. They instead prefer to call themselves Muslims. Yes, we understand that they are Muslims but if they prioritise Islam then act like a Muslim. But today they are not willing to work with other Muslims especially in Umno. Instead they support people that used to say that we must cross their dead body to make this an Islamic country,” said Mahathir, referring to DAP which promulgates a secular state.

Islamic state? Why didn't Mahathir do it?

Malaysia’s constitution states clearly that Islam is the country’s official religion and that all races other than the Malays are free to practice the religion of their choice. Pakatan Rakyat – made of PAS, DAP and PKR - has reiterated its commitment to defend this provision.

Nizar

Pakatan leaders have also repeatedly said if PAS was determined to achieve its long-term vision of an Islamic state, it could do so as long as it could summon two-thirds parliamentary majority to revise the constitution.

Nonetheless, these facts have often been twisted by Mahathir and his Umno party in their bid to scare the Malays into voting for them, and the non-Malays from accepting PAS.

“From August 1957 to March 2008, the Umno-led BN held two-thirds majority in Parliament. During this 51-year period, Mahathir ruled Malaysia for 22 years.Why didn’t Umno especially Mahathir change the federal constitution then?" asked Nizar.