Written by Mkini
Guan Eng condemns Dr M's 'seditious, extremist' remarks
DAP national chairperson Lim Guan Eng has described remarks by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as seditious and extremist, saying the leader was taking a dangerous line.
In a press conference held at his service centre in Bagan, Penang, Lim said such remarks crossed a line.
“I want to refer to the seditious as well as extreme remarks made by former prime minister Mahathir when he said he questioned the loyalty of Malaysian Indians and said you must identify yourself as a Malay then only you can consider this country as your home.
“I think this is too much. This is not only extreme but also dangerous. And coming from a prime minister who preached about fostering a Malaysian race, a Malaysian nation, this goes against everything he stood for in the past.
“It is clear that this is politically motivated because he failed to win over the support of Malaysians,” said Lim in an apparent reference to Mahathir’s poor showing at the last election when he lost his deposit while defending his Langkawi seat.
“He has taken an extremist, racist, and dangerous line to win support. And this extremist, racist, and dangerous tactic will only threaten the harmony and unity of Malaysians.
“That’s why it’s extremely important that we should all unite together to reject such extremist and racist politics,” said Lim.
Mahathir, who served as prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003 and then 22 months from 2018 to 2020, claimed in an interview with Indian TV channel Thanthi TV that Malaysian Indians are not completely loyal to the country as they still identify with their country of origin.
He said one should identify as Malay to have the right to call the country their own.
“Malaysian Indians do not speak Malay as their home language, they speak Tamil (instead),” he said when the host asked if one can remain loyal to the country while committed to their roots.
The nonagenarian then said that his “problem” is when “immigrants” (Indians and Chinese) call the country their own while professing their own cultures and customs.
“Coming from Mahathir who is now an adviser of the four states ruled by PAS, basically Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, we can see that he and (PAS president Abdul) Hadi Awang share the same political and ideological outlook of using race and religion to target minorities for their own political purpose,” said Lim.
Bankrupt of ideas
He added his belief that Hadi is well-known for blaming non-Muslims and non-bumiputeras for corruption.
“We know this is wrong because corruption is colourblind. For him to target non-Muslims and non-Bumis for corruption shows that they are completely bankrupt of ideas, just as Mahathir is bankrupt of ideas.
“If you go back to Mahathir, if you say that only if you identify yourself as a Malay, then only you can consider Malaysia as your home, are you not dispossessing nearly 45 percent of Malaysians of their rightful heritage of Malaysian as their own country?
“Then you are denying the right of Kadazan-Dusun and Murut in Sabah; Dayak, Iban, and Melanau in Sarawak; as well as Chinese, Indians, and Orang Asli from their rightful heritage as a Malaysian citizen - born here, grew up here, and also likely to end their life here.
“So this is completely unacceptable with him and now Hadi working in tandem, both of them racist, both of them extremist, both of them targetting, discriminating, and blaming everything wrong on non-Muslims and non-Bumis, just because they feel differently,” said Lim.
He then called on Malaysians to reject all extremist and racist political leaders.
“I believe Malaysians will unite and reject such dangerous politics and we want to strongly condemn these remarks which have hurt and offended not only the sensitivities of Indians, but also all other races including Malays, who consider every Malaysian as their brother and sister.
“To question the loyalty among Indians in Malaysia is unacceptable when we know the sacrifices made by Malaysian Indians in the country.
“Not just in terms of the effort, blood, sweat, and toil, but in terms of sacrificing their lives for the country. We know of so many Indians who served in the army and the police who died in the line of duty.
“Why does he not recognise their sacrifices, just because of the colour of their skin? Just because we are not Malay, we cannot be Malaysian?” said Lim.
He said he believed the position taken by Mahathir was unconstitutional and urged both Mahathir and Hadi to read the Federal Constitution and stop targeting non-Muslims and non-bumiputeras.
'Mahathir must drop divisive line'
Meanwhile, DAP national deputy chairperson Gobind Singh Deo said Mahathir should not question the loyalty of Malaysian Indians and Chinese to this country just because they speak their native languages and profess their own cultures and customs.
"It is most unfortunate that despite helming this country for many years, Mahathir still finds it fit to make statements which are divisive particularly when it comes to race.
"Malaysia is a multiracial country. Its people come from different religious and cultural backgrounds. The Federal Constitution expressly recognises this and makes it abundantly clear that except as expressly authorised by the Constitution itself, there shall be no discrimination against citizens based only on religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law.
"It is also commonly accepted that many of our citizens speak more than one language, most of whom are conversant in Bahasa Malaysia and their native language which includes, amongst others, Chinese, Tamil, Iban or Kadazan.
"This has never been a problem for us. Instead, it is that very diversity which has strengthened us and places us in a position to benefit from a world today which is largely globalised," said Gobind in a statement today.
He said Mahathir must acknowledge that all Malaysians be they Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sabahans or Sarawakians have worked and still work hard to build this country.
"There is nothing wrong with the fact that we come from different racial, religious and cultural backgrounds or speak different languages. We are indeed Malaysian and loyal to our country," said the Damansara MP.
Written by Mkini
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