On May 10, DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng urged the people to lodge police reports against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for his continuous incendiary attacks against non-Muslims.
“Hadi is so desperate to disrupt, destabilise and even destroy the unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, that he continues to openly target non-Muslims and non-Malays.
“Hadi now blames them (non-Malays) as the biggest group of plunderers, and those who give and receive bribes.
“This is nonsense when corruption is colour blind and a national problem confronting all ethnic communities,” he was reported as saying.
Since then, two DAP MPs, Lim Lip Eng and Syeerleena Abdul Rashid, have lodged reports against the PAS leader.
While the former finance minister did make the right call, one needs to ponder whether it is worth the effort.
In March, numerous police reports were lodged against Hadi for calling for the government’s ouster.
On March 9, Sentul district police chief Beh Eng Lai confirmed that the case was being investigated by Bukit Aman's Classified Crime Investigation Unit.
Now here is my question, what is the outcome of the probe? This was said nearly two months ago. Can someone from the police and Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) provide us with an update?
The thing is, it seems the authorities are reluctant to throw the book at hate preachers and incendiary politicians due to mysterious reasons.
For example, in October last year, preacher Syakir Nasoha was caught on video making false accusations against Hindus, Buddhists and the Dayak community.
He claimed that Hindus and Buddhists will join the Jews and Christians to destroy Islam, and falsely accused the Dayaks (who are predominantly Christians) of raping and killing Muslims in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Many police reports were lodged against the preacher for his inflammatory remarks but what action has the authorities taken against him? Can someone update us?
Unsavoury characters
There are many others like Hadi and Syakir, who are treated with kids' gloves by the authorities despite their clear breach of the law.
From my understanding of the situation, these people are emboldened due to the authorities’ inaction. So, pardon us, the ordinary citizen, when we get sceptical about lodging police reports against Hadi and those like him.
If Guan Eng and DAP are really upset with Hadi, perhaps it is best for him to ask Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail about what is happening.
Besides, the DAP leader is a former finance minister and a backbencher who shares close ties with both Anwar and Saifuddin. Surely, the duo is just a phone call away from him.
In my view, there is little need in asking the public to do much about this. We have already done our part since 1998 – by taking on the then-powerful BN administration and working alongside Pakatan Harapan leaders to put the latter in power.
In fact, those like Guan Eng, his illustrious father Lim Kit Siang and the late Karpal Singh have been taking on the corrupt establishment way before Anwar’s sacking as deputy prime minister in 1998.
You guys are in the government now. You have the authority to implement the reforms the nation badly needs.
As such, you have the power to overhaul the nation’s law and order process to make it function professionally for the people.
Therefore, do get the police and AGC to act on all the previous reports lodged against hate preachers and divisive politicians first.
Once the people see the authorities have little tolerance for such characters, public confidence in enforcement agencies and political leaders will rise again.
In fact, if the authorities really act without fear and favour, there won’t be a need to lodge police reports as all these troublemakers will cease spewing their drivel. - Mkini
G VINOD is a member of the Malaysiakini team.
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