PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has come under fire for branding non-Muslims and non-Bumiputeras as “roots of corruption” and “chasers of illicit gains”.
Yesterday (Aug 20), Hadi said corruption must be eradicated in a holistic manner, calling it a “disease” and labelling those who commit graft as “sinners”.
“These groups who chase illicit gains are the ones who eventually control the economy,” he claimed. “They then damage our politics as they are the roots for corruption, and the majority of them are non-Muslims and non-Bumiputras.”
DAP Penang deputy chairman Prof P. Ramasamy said Hadi “never ceases to amaze me with his nonsensical, racist and extremist remarks”.
In a statement today, he said PAS wants to make itself relevant to the Malay-Muslims by “spewing the worst kinds of racism and hatred”.
“Its party leaders know that racism begets much support from the Malays, rather than an abstract version of religion,” Ramasamy claimed.
The Penang deputy chief minister II said contrary to Hadi’s claim, it is the Malays who control the economy and politics, and it is they who should be blamed for the Malays becoming “corrupted and mired” in financial scandals.
Besides that, the non-Malays take much interest in politics by coming back from abroad to vote during elections – which is not the case with the Malays, Ramasamy claimed, as they are “not very politically inclined”.
“The non-Malays, by their pervasive engagement and involvement in business and entrepreneurship, have taken control of the economy to the extent they can dictate terms to the Malays. The Malays are corrupted because of the nefarious influence of the non-Malays.
“Such is the nature of the bizarre or ludicrous remark from Hadi, the grand old master of PAS, the know-it-all Islamic party in the country,” Ramasamy remarked.
“Poor Malay leaders in UMNO not guilty of corruption?”
Ramasamy also noted that Hadi’s “ludicrous” remark that non-Malays are the source of all corruption would also mean that the “poor Malay leaders in UMNO” are not guilty of corruption as they were “manipulated” by the non-Bumiputera.
“If this is the case, Hadi should advise the judiciary not to prosecute the Malay leaders as they are innocent,” Ramasamy quipped. “The blame should be cast on the conniving non-Malays, the real culprits.”
Hadi also “just stopped short” of saying that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak should be unconditionally released because he was the “victim of non-Malay connivance and manipulation”, Ramasamy noted.
“Of course, Hadi does not make any reference to the funds that PAS received from Najib or UMNO the proceeds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) ill-begotten funds,” the Perai assemblyman added.
In 2016, Sarawak Report reported that PAS leaders allegedly received some RM90 mil in funds from UMNO, said to be from 1MDB. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reportedly investigated this allegation in 2019, but there were no updates after that.
Ramasamy noted that Hadi is “no fool” since he knows the 15th General Elections (GE15) is fast approaching and he is “sharpening his tools to be relevant to the Malays”.
“By engaging in racism of the worst kind, he believes that Malays would support PAS,” he noted.
“The party’s religious credentials are just not enough to get the support of the Malays; it has to do the other racial parties by subscribing to the worst and most blatant forms of racism.” – Aug 21, 2022
Main photo credit: Malay Mail
