Police reports should be lodged, and action taken against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for his baseless, divisive, racist and extremist branding of non-Muslims and non-bumis as “roots for corruption” in Malaysia. To-date, Hadi has remained unrepentant and unashamed.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) President Muhammad Mohan had labelled Hadi as not only racist but potentially seditious, urging the police and the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission to take action against Hadi for making such an irresponsible statement. Muhammad even said that it is both sad and shameful to hear the baseless and provocative comments made by the PAS President.
Transparency International has always taken an evidence-based approach in exposing corruption and a colour-blind systemic approach to pluck out the roots of corruption. This is the basis for world-wide acceptance, including the United Nations, of TI’s Corruption Perception Index or CPI as the barometer for a country’s progress in combating corruption. There is no doubt that since the BN-PN back-door government that took over in 2020, Malaysia’s CPI rankings have slipped down 11 spots from No. 51 in 2019 to No. 62 in 2021.
This is not the first time that Hadi has indulged in hate speech against non-bumis and non-Malays, previously stating that non-Muslims have no right to take up important Ministerial posts in Cabinet. Hadi has also falsely alleged that non-Muslims and non-bumis are snatching political power from Malays and Muslims even though the Prime Minister, deputy Prime Minister, every principal and senior post in the civil service, Armed Forces and the Police has never been held by non-bumis or non-Muslims. Further PAS wants to ban concerts, Oktoberfest and Bon Odori even when these events are attended only by non-Muslims or they are only cultural events that have been organised for decades without any untoward incident.
Hadi is emboldened to continue to espouse such hate speech because non-Muslim and non-bumi political parties or Ministers in government continues to condone and support him as the government’s Special Envoy to the Middle-East with Ministerial status. Whilst they may pretend to criticise Hadi or PAS in the press, the reality is that MCA, MIC, GPS and GRS are hypocritical by continuing to strongly support PAS and their Ministers in government.
Not a single non-Muslim Minister has brought up this issue in Cabinet and that PAS Ministers should be Ministers for all Malaysians and not just Muslims and bumis.
Malaysians, especially those from Sabah and Sarawak cannot permit PAS to spread its ideology of hate that is a clear and present danger to the sanctity of the Federal Constitution, integrity of the nation and unity of our people. PAS cannot be allowed to play any role in government unless it publicly apologises and disavows such a racist and extremist ideology.