Selangor sultan dismayed at incitement of hatred towards Malay rulers

Sultan Selangor Sharafuddin Idris Shah has expressed his dismay at the actions of those whom he said have been openly insulting, belittling, instigating and inciting hatred towards Malay rulers.

What is more, the ruler said, was that several of those inciting hatred towards rulers were themselves Malays.

"What is more upsetting is that the incitement to hate the Malay rulers is being carried out by some Malays themselves," the ruler stated in his speech during a breaking of fast event in Klang today.

Sultan Sharafuddin stated that the royal institution was committed to ensuring that the position of Malays and Islam was preserved as well as the position of other races in the country.

The sultan added that the royal institution would abide by the constitution and that it still had a role to play in the constitutional monarchy (raja berperlembagaan) as practised in the country.

"The spread of this culture (of inciting hatred) among certain quarters must be stopped so the rakyat is not instigated to hate the Malay rulers to the point that their loyalty to the Malay rulers is eroded," he said.

Delay in appointment

While the state ruler did not name anyone in his speech, police have stated that they are investigating several individuals under the Sedition Act 1948 over alleged statements made against the rulers.

They include Bersatu supreme council member A Kadir Jasin and activist Hishamuddin Rais.

This pertains to alleged claims which appeared in their respective blogs concerning the expenditure of Sultan Muhammad V in the 16 months since he became the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Kadir had urged people to judge him for what he wrote on the matter, instead of depending on other people's interpretation of what he posted, while Hishammuddin lodged a report stating the article had been uploaded onto his blog without his knowledge.

This follows a debate which arose due to an apparent delay by the monarchy in accepting Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's choice of Tommy Thomas as the new attorney-general as it was claimed they were pushing for a Muslim candidate.

However, the Agong later consented to the appointment. -Mkini