Those insult Muslims the most are BN leaders like YOU - Latheefa slams Muhyiddin

We refer to DPM Muhyiddin Yassin’s admonishment of non-Muslims, telling them to stop insulting Islam and creating tension when responding to a video clip on YouTube entitled "1 Hari di Hari Raya" that purportedly depicted a “non-muslim” performing ablution and did the same to her three dogs with the "takbir" Raya and Hari Raya song as a backdrop.

As it turned out, she is a Muslim and there was clearly no intention to insult Islam but was an old video wishing Hari Raya and that dogs and Islam are not necessarily incompatible.

We condemn the irresponsible and opportunistic reaction by the DPM to stoke religious and racial tension by pitting Muslims against non-Muslims without bothering to check what the actual content of the video was and jumped into conclusion that the maker was a non-Muslim who wanted to insult Islam.

This is all the more reprehensible considering we have just recovered from the Alvivi Facebook incident.

Rise above petty racial politicking

As the Deputy Prime Minister, he should rise above such pettiness and should be the one who keep the harmony and peace between the different races and religions and not perpetuate strife and distrust among our multi-racial Malaysia.

Further, even if the video was made by a non-Muslim, the DPM should not have attacked and generalised all non-Muslims as having intention to insult Islam. Islamic traditions and history are rich in examples of how Muslims have lived in harmony and even protected non-Muslims from persecution.

It is BN leaders like the DPM who are insulting Islam and Muslims in Malaysia by persistently projecting Muslims as uncaring, unfair and paranoid - who are intolerant of different cultures and views. This narrow and intolerant attitude has to stop before it brings the country into chaos and violence.

Latheefa Koya, Head of Legal and Human Rights Bureau of Parti Keadilan Rakyat