Activist Arun Dorasamy’s call for Indian voters not to vote in the by-elections in Pulai and Simpang Jeram on Sept 9 has been blasted as “cheap publicity” and will only undermine the election process.
Amidi Abdul Manan, who heads PKR’s Religious Understanding and Excellence bureau, said in a statement today that Arun (above) should not have made such a call and linked it to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent role in the Islamic conversion ceremony of a young man.
“This is a call that is clearly seeking cheap popularity through an attempt to associate the fundamental rights of Malaysians guaranteed by the Federal Constitution to follow the religion they believe in,” he said today.
Earlier, Arun called for the Indian community to boycott the by-elections as a sign of their protest against the actions of Anwar, who is PKR president.
Amidi said his party was taking Arun’s call seriously.
“This call will only undermine the election process as well as threaten the democratic system that is the foundation of the country’s administration.
“Islam celebrates the diversity of religions when the Quran clearly states that there is no compulsion to follow any religion. The right and wrong paths are clear.
“That is the spirit of the Islamic ceremony carried out by the prime minister, which is only carried out after the individual involved believes with all his heart in the truth of the Islamic religion, then he accepts it willingly,” he said.
Apart from Arun, Anwar also received criticism from former Penang deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy and Global Human Rights Foundation president S Shashi Kumar.
However, several other parties also came forward to defend Anwar, including former Umno minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
The head of the Islamic Welfare Organization of Malaysia (Perkim) in the Klang district, Hushim Salleh has stepped forward to explain that Anwar only carried out the conversion ceremony at the Jamek Ar-Rahimiah Mosque in Klang at the former’s request.
According to him, the matter was unplanned and happened spontaneously when Anwar performed Friday prayers at the mosque. - Mkini
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