Mashitah must apologise over Quran-burning claim, says PKR

Baling Wanita Umno chief Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim was said to have riled up delegates at the Umno general assembly with her allegation that a Chinese had burnt the Quran in Kedah. – The Malaysian Insider pic, November 29, 2014.

A Kedah PKR lawmaker has demanded an apology from Baling Wanita Umno chief Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim for alleging that the Chinese in the state burnt the Quran in a prayer ritual.

Alor Star MP Gooi Hsiao Leung said the former deputy minister had lied about the incident, adding that it was meant to incite hatred and ill will among the community.

"Mashitah’s conduct in running down the Chinese in Kedah and inciting the Malays to hate the Chinese is totally disgraceful and unacceptable – which (we) demand that she immediately retracts her statement and apologise to the Chinese community," he said in a statement today.

Gooi said Mashitah owed the Chinese community in Kedah an apology for making such a claim at the Umno general assembly earlier this week as it had been proven that no such incident had taken place.

"She riled up Umno members by asking if they felt challenged and frusfrated – prompting an emotional response from them.

"Her speech was calculated and intended to incite racial hatred and ill will amongst the Kedah Malays against the Kedah Chinese.

"As a former deputy minister and a senior Umno state leader, she knows the consequences of spreading dangerous rumours."

When speaking to Wanita Umno delegates at the Umno general assembly on Wednesday, Mashitah had reportedly alleged that a Chinese had burned a copy of the Quran in Kedah and urged delegates to speak up. She had said that Islam and Malay privileges were constantly being challenged.

Gooi said Mashitah’s conduct in whipping up racial hatred was totally inexcusable because two days before her speech, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir had revealed that police had found that the Quran was not torched but was torn by a mentally unsound man, who was currently held at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital's psychiatric ward.

Gooi, a PKR Supreme Council member, also said Mashitah showed her arrogance when DAP lodged a police report against her, by challenging DAP to sue her, even after it was pointed out that no copy of the Quran was burned by the Chinese.

Gooi said Mashitah would have lodged a police report over the incident if she believed what was told to her by Kuala Kedah Wanita Umno chief Noor Hasita Mat Isa over the incident.

"It is clear from Mashitah’s belligerent response so far, she will certainly not apologise for her disgraceful conduct.

"Under the circumstances, I urge MB Mukhriz as Kedah Umno chief, to act on behalf of the Chinese community in Kedah, to discipline and put Mashitah on a tight leash, to rein her in, and make her apologise for the wrong she has committed against the Chinese community in the state," Gooi said.

He said the sensitivity of the case could not be emphasised enough because of what the allegation had cost the Chinese community.

"The police are now also investigating an assault case and another case, where six Chinese hawker stalls were torched.

"The police have publicly acknowledged that the cases are all connected to the allegation that the Quran was destroyed," he said.

- TMI