PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat has decided to refer Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) to the Rights and Privileges Committee over his remarks on Tuesday which allegedly insulted the Hindu community.
Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran (Harapan-Ipoh Barat) moved the motion after which deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming put it to a vote.
The motion read, "The House views the member for Pasir Salak's actions seriously which has offended MPs of the Hindu faith and tarnished the good name of the House".
Prior to the voting, there were loud objections from the opposition bench as to the motion. Nga responded by turning off their microphones.
After Kulasegaran raised the motion, Nga said he would only allow one MP from each side to take part in the debate starting with Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan- Jelutong).
"What happened in the Dewan that day was very clear and what Tajuddin said was not only recorded in Parliament's Hansard but has since gone viral on social media," he said.
Noh Omar (BN-Tanjong Karang) stood up and said that Tajudddin had already been punished by Speaker Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof on Tuesday and there was no need for further action.
A shouting match then ensued between both sides before Nga called for a vote which saw a majority agreeing to Tajuddin being referred to the committee.
“If the opposition does not wish to participate in the debate, I will move on to voting. I want to give the opportunity to the opposition MPs to debate but they do not want to take part," Nga said before calling for the vote.
Tajuddin and Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Teong were later told to leave the House when both defied orders to sit down after causing chaos in the House.
At one point, Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) tore up what was presumably his copy of the motion and tossing it into the air.
The motion to sanction Tajuddin was the last order of business for this session of the Dewan Rakyat. The House adjourned until March next year.
In an immediate reaction, Tajuddin told reporters that the decision to sanction him was unfair because he had already apologised for making the remark.
"I had withdrawn (my statement) and apologised, so why did they want to prolong (the issue)? This is none other than to spark anger in the Indian community towards me," he said.
"Jelutong (Rayer) was constantly interrupting (speeches by opposition MPs) that day with his antics. I wanted to silence him so I made a joke.
"My (Hindu) friends never criticised me for it. I think DAP is trying to politicise and exploit the issue, which is actually a non-issue," he added.
During question time on Tuesday, Tajuddin had likened the vibuthi (Hindu holy ash) on RSN Rayer's (Harapan-Jelutong) forehead to the cremains of former Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng.
After a huge outcry and multiple demands for his apology by backbenchers, Tajuddin relented by saying: "Okay lah. I retract lah. There is no problem". - Mkini
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