PAS has given blessing for Hadi to attend Malay Dignity Congress

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has received the blessing of the party's central leadership to attend the Malay Dignity Congress, this Saturday.

PAS secretary-general, Takiyuddin Hassan said in a statement that the decision was made by them during the PAS central daily meeting today.

"PAS has received an invitation from the organiser of Malay Dignity Congress scheduled to take place this Oct 6.

"The central leadership's daily meeting had adopted a decision agreeing for the PAS president to attend the congress to signify that PAS has a big heart in strengthening ummah and national unity in this country," he said.

The congress, scheduled to be held at the Axiata Arena Stadium, is organised by the Pusat Kecemerlangan Melayu Akademi Pengajian Melayu Universiti Malaya in collaboration with UTM, Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Sultan Idris Education University.

Other politicians that would be attending the event include prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is expected to launch the programme and deliver his mandate.

The organising academy's director, Hashim Ismail, said that Mahathir (above) would be attending the event not as a prime minister but as a Malay leader.

The congress will discuss issues involving education, religion, culture, politics and the economy from a Malay perspective.

Yesterday, the event's secretariat chief executive Zainal Kling said at a press conference that the event is a response to certain quarters challenging the position of Malays in the country.

"Many of the questions not only belittle Malays but also question the Malays' bumiputra rights, the position of the royalty, belittle and question Islam and also cultural issues such as the national language.

"This is why we are organising the congress... Because all the questions have challenged Malay dignity so much so that they do not only feel challenged but also played out, belittled and underestimated," Zainal said. - Mkini