THE so-called claim that PAS spearheads a radical ideology that is entangled with extremism is both untrue and appears to be more of an illusion that is far-fetched from reality.
Kedah PAS commissioner Datuk Ahmad Yahaya claimed that such accusations have malicious intention to disrupt the fight to defend Islam.
“Is defending religious rights or being firm on issues involving religious interests considered a radical act?” the Pokok Sena MP penned in a recent Facebook post. “Is this the case with PAS which has always practised the principle of face-to-face politics since its inception and has continued to doing so until today?”
Ahmad said this in response to the accusations made by newly-appointed Community Communications Department (J-KOM) director-general (DG) Datuk Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff who claimed that there exists a radical ideology among opposition political parties that is intended to destabilise the country or to overthrow the federal government of the day.
For context, Berita Harian had reported Agus’ statement yesterday (March 6) in a manner that had equated the radical ideology practiced by the opposition to be parallel to that of Islamic militant groups (IS).
This prompted Ahmad to ask if being strict with the development of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) groups or to contain over-zealousness with liberalism and pluralism in recent times can be considered as “an extreme act”.
“Is this also included in the definition of extreme by the DG of J-KOM? Is PAS’ stance to remind Muslims of the dangers of this group to their faith also considered a radical act?” asked Ahmad.
“What about the great support of the people for PAS and Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the recent 15th General Election (GE15). Are those who supported PAS and PN also considered a radical bunch?”
In a related development, the Central PAS Council of Scholars head also took a swipe at the unity government which is said to put madani (civil) principles first yet accused PAS of leveraging funds sponsored by gambling companies when the party has proven its commitment to close down gambling premises in the states under its administration.
“Where is the rational, ethical and unbiased consideration in an assessment that is supposedly coming from someone who has been in the academic field? There are too many answers compared to the questions raised. Unfortunately, the thinking of such groups has tried to corner PAS as extreme and radical,” Ahmad pointed out.
Accordingly, he advised the J-KOM DG to focus more on his real duties “by changing his mentality to be more matured”.
Moreover, people would evaluate the government’s actions today, hence Ahmad suggested that Agus “need not try to look for the fault of others when he himself has more faults than others”. – March 7, 2023
