DAP is the true racist party, PAS tells Guan Eng

 

PAS has claimed that DAP is a racist party, urging Malaysians to reject it in the upcoming 15th election as it only serves to “divide” the Malaysian Family. 

In a statement today, PAS information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said that DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng’s “misguided” accusation that PAS was a racist party merely proved how shallow DAP was.

Labelling it a chauvinist party, Khairil (above) alleged that DAP had despicable records in its racist attitudes towards issues involving the Malay-Muslim community. 

An example, he claimed, would be Article  2 of DAP’s party constitution, which seeks to “reaffirm and restore the Malaysian Constitution to its original ‘secular’ framework”. Khairil said that this indicated that it was anti-Islam and against the Malays. 

Khairil was commenting on Guan Eng’s statement yesterday, which accused PAS of adopting a racist and extremist approach against non-Muslims.

However, Khairil said that it was DAP that had never hidden its hostility towards the proposal to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355), claiming it would only increase the rate of punishments imposed on Muslims for Syariah offences only.

Currently, Act 355 provides that Syariah courts are empowered to impose maximum sentences of imprisonment not exceeding three years, any fine not exceeding RM5,000, or whipping not exceeding six strokes or with any combination thereof for offences under the Islamic law. 

‘DAP leaders known for controversy’

According to Khairil, DAP also supported the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) during its time in government, a move he said would clearly disrupt the harmony between the communities of various races since independence until today.

The PAS information chief said that DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang had accused the Friday sermons prepared by Jakim to be “spreading hatred and challenging efforts toward harmony”, adding that DAP women’s wing chairperson Chong Eng and party deputy secretary-general P Ramasamy have also criticised the religion. 

“Chong Eng criticised the Friday sermon regarding the duty of Muslim women to cover their aurat. Ramasamy once called Islamic preacher Zakir Naik a ‘devil’,” he said.

Khairil said the DAP had in 2005 also questioned the usage of loudspeakers by mosques for calls to prayer and the recitation 

Khairil said that on the issue of call to prayer and the recitation of verses from the Quran, in 2005, DAP questioned the use of mosques using loudspeakers which allegedly disturbed non-Muslims.

He further claimed that DAP was famous for disobeying and going against Malay rulers, citing an incident whereby Kit Siang had called on DAP assemblypersons to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of the Perak menteri besar in 2008, who happened to be from PAS. 

He also said that DAP Perak chairperson Nga Kor Ming had once called Penang Umno leader Ahmad Darus a “mentally disabled Malay leader” for proposing that Malaysia Airlines flight attendants wear clothes that covered their aurat.

On the issue of apostasy, he claimed that Perak DAP’s Ngeh Koo Ham had issued two statements on Muslims being given the freedom to apostate from Islam.

“Ngeh had proclaimed that Muslims must accept the fact that if a Muslim of his own free will wants to leave Islam he must be allowed to do so,” he said. 

He also alleged that DAP Setapak’s declaration opposed the concept of “bumiputera” and “non-bumiputera”.

Khairil also dismissed Guan Eng’s claim that PAS is a racist party, saying one of the largest statues of Buddha in the world is in Kelantan, which has been ruled by the Islamist party for decades.

“In fact, when PAS took control of Terengganu in 1999, it abolished Kampung Cina’s gateway tax, strengthening the good relationship between the Malay and Chinese communities in Terengganu and Kelantan,” he added. - Mkini