DAP has lodged a police report against Baling Wanita UMNO chief Mashitah Ibrahim for inciting racial hatred in a speech where she said that the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the pages of the Quran during a ritual.
According to Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching who filed the report along with Batu Kawan MP Kashturi Patto, and DAP members Dyana Sofya and Rara Othman, Mashitah should be investigated under Section 298 A and 505 of the Penal Code.
Section 298 A addressed the causing of disharmony and hatred on grounds of religion while Section 505 relates to the circulation of rumours to cause public alarm.
Calling Mashitah’s speech irresponsible, Teo said anyone who burns the Quran should be condemned regardless of race. Kashturi added that instead of focusing on more important matters, UMNO women were “plucking issues out of the air”.
The report was made at the Tun HS Lee police station in Kuala Lumpur earlier this morning.
Mashitah had delivered a rousing speech on Wednesday during the Wanita Umno general assembly, blaming the Chinese of Kedah for burning pages of the Quran. However, no evidence has been given to support that claim.
“In Kuala Kedah, Kak Ta (Kuala Kedah Wanita chief Noor Hasita Mat Isa) recently told me that the Chinese community (there) burned the Quran page by page during a prayer ritual,” Malaysiakini reported her as saying.
“Do you feel challenged? Sensitive? Sad? Frustrated?” she asked, prompting delegates to respond in the affirmative.
“If you feel that way, why not voice out? Don’t be quiet. Where is our voice in the media, in cyberspace? Don’t be the silent majority. (Don’t allow) the minority to talk.
“The position of Islam and the rights of Muslims are being challenged. After 57 years of independence, why is this happening?
“Is it to divide (us) or the political gimmick of certain quarters, or the revolution of ICT (information, communication and technology) or is the Islamic agenda envied in Malaysia?” she asked.
Mashitah lying about Chinese community burning the Quran ?
The claim by Mashitah was met with doubt by DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, who said that the evidence that points to a Malay man who had torn and not burnt the pages of the Quran, and that the story by Mashitah seemed very far from the truth.
A statement by Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir showed that he received reports following police investigations clarifying that the pages of Al Quran were torn and not burnt; and that this was done by a Malay man who is said to be mentally unstable.
The man, previously thought to have burnt the pages of the holy book, was beaten by three individuals whom Mukhriz had later condemned as “unruly individuals” who had broken the law. He is currently being held at the psychiatric ward at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Alor Star.
Citing Mukhriz’s statement, Lim Kit Siang asked if Mashitah was exaggerating in her speech based on this incident, or whether there was some other incident where the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the Quran “page by page in a ritual prayer”.
Apart from Mukhriz’s report, Lim also said that he contacted two DAP state assemblymen from Kedah, namely Derga rep Tan Kok Yew and Kota Darul Aman rep Teoh Boon Kok for more information on the alleged “Chinese community” ritual. According to Lim, both denied any incident of the sort ever occurring.
“Mashitah and the UMNO leadership owe the whole country a proper explanation for a most irresponsible exaggeration of an incident which could provoke the most serious and dangerous consequences inimical to the preservation of inter-racial and inter-religious peace, harmony and goodwill in plural Malaysia,” said Lim.
The UMNO General Assembly meeting this year has been marred primarily by Non-Malay bashing, fear-mongering with montages of May 13, playing up threats against the Malays; all these that opposition leaders see as giving in to extreme right wing demands. – The Rocket
