PAS vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad has chastised Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for making disparaging remarks, insult or poke fun at his own race and religion in his quest to win the hearts of other races.
The former minister in the PM’s department in-charge of religious affairs said such an attitude only hurts the hearts of Malay-Muslims who eventually showed their rejection towards him and the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) coalition.
Among others, Idris claimed that the PH chairman has repeatedly hurled sarcasm at the image of the skull cap, robe and turban during his speeches on the PH-BN political stage with criticism of being envious of the government, taking wages without working and stealing.
Moreover, Anwar who is also the PKR president had on few previous occasions reprimanded the Malays by reminding them not to be arrogant to the extent of marginalising and ignoring the minority races.
“Which Malay is arrogant? Which Malay is intolerant? Which Malay does injustice to non-Malays in our country? Our Malays are the most tolerant people around,” HarakahDaily quoted the Bagan Serai MP as voicing his regrets at Anwar for ridiculing Malay-Muslims.
“Non-Malays in Malay villages live in harmony because the Malays live by their religion. Hence, for that reason, they will not do something that is against their religious teachings. Yet, he still deems Malays as arrogant when in reality the Malays are so tolerant.”
On this note, Idris reminded Anwar not to blame Perikatan Nasional (PN) and leaders of the coalition from deliberating and defending important matters linked to the 3R (race, religion, royalty.
“This is because 3R-related matters are the core pillars in the Federal Constitution which must be defended against any insult, lawsuit or threat by any party,” he justified.
“If some people think the Malays are corrupt and other races are good, shouldn’t we defend ourselves? Why can’t we react when people like (DAP chairman) Lim Guan Eng claimed that if PN wins, temples will be demolished?”
Added Idris: “Don’t because you want to gain non-Malay support, you resorted to playing on an uneven field. As we’re putting forth valid arguments, don’t resort to using agencies or authorities to come against us.
“That is playing on an uneven playing field. The people are getting smarter and bolder by the day. You can’t force the people to accept what you do as the Arab proverb says ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” – July 29, 2023
