Enough of rhetoric, we'll 'run amok' if needed - Perkasa warns

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali has said that the patience of the Malays is running thin and warned that the right-wing Malay movement is ready to "run amok" across the country if issues affecting the Malays continue to persist.

Speaking to some 200 supporters and members at Perkasa's "jihad" rally at Kampung Bharu in Kuala Lumpur, Ibrahim trained his guns on Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy and the latter's criticism of the police during the recent Seafield temple riot.

The Malay rights group also criticised the government's initial proposal to ratify the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd), which it later decided against.

"The age of rhetorics is over [...] For us in Perkasa, the patience of the Malays is over. Today is just round one, a message.

"After this, Perkasa will not keep quiet. If need be, Perkasa will run amok across Malaysia," he said at the rally being held in conjunction with Perkasa's annual general meeting.

Waythamoorthy had been heavily criticised after issuing a joint statement with several other Indian ministers and a deputy minister following the disturbances at the Sri Mariamman temple in Subang last week over a land dispute which saw several vehicles torched and a firefighter seriously wounded.

In his statement, the ministers had criticised the police as "irresponsible" with their early assessment of the melee, when, in the initial confusion, police had claimed that the riot on Monday was caused by two Indian groups.

It was later discovered that the group of men who entered the temple came from another ethnic group.

The ministers also criticised the police's alleged delayed action in responding to the melee when temple devotees were allegedly attacked by the second group of men, who were later revealed to have been hired to secure the site for relocation.

Taking action

Speaking at the rally, Ibrahim, however, later appeared to pull back on his "run amok" statement, explaining that any action to be taken by the movement would be in accordance with the law.

"Run amok here means the Malays will not sit by quietly. We will voice out all sorts of demands, we will assemble.

"Don't take run amok in its actual meaning. In short, it (run amok) means we will take action," he said.

In his speech, Ibrahim also blamed Waythamoorthy for the memorandum handed over by right-wing party Hindu Makkal Katchi to the consulate-general of Malaysia in Chennai, which accused the Malaysian government of being biased against Hindus in Malaysia.

He claimed that Waythamoorthy's accusations against the police had influenced the political party based in India.

Ibrahim urged Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be tough and dismiss Waythamoorthy as a minister.

On a separate matter, Ibrahim also called on the police to take stern action against social media users who allegedly insult Islam.

He added that Perkasa will challenge the government's plan to abolish the Sedition Act 1948, insisting that it must first receive consent from the Conference of Rulers. - Mkini