Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang said that he intends to meet with Zahid Hamidi, the Home Minister, to find out why his department has been slow to act on Baling UMNO Wanita Chief Mashitah Ibrahim’s hate speech.
The hate speech in question, refers to the story Mashitah had conveyed to delegates during the UMNO general assembly, that the Chinese community in Kedah were responsible for the page by page ritual burning of the Quran pages.
“I will ask for a meeting with the Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on the expiry of 480 hours on December 18 to find out why the Home Minister is unable or incapable of fulfilling his public oath that the police will start investigations within 24 hours of a report lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue,” said Lim in a statement today.
Zahid Hamidi had pledged that he would act on any cases of sedition with 24 hours of it being reported to the police but has not taken any form of action against the UMNO leader. This pledge was made in the wake of a slew of sedition charges brought upon voices critical of the government.
Following Mashitah’s controversial speech, the DAP had lodged reports in multiple police stations and asked the she be investigated under the Penal Code for inciting racial disharmony.
Along with a number of opposition leaders, Lim Kit Siang said that he visited the site in Alor Setar where the incident was alleged to have taken place.
“DAP MPs Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera), Steven Sim (Bukit Mertajam) and Vincent Wu (Assistant National Organising Secretary), my political secretary Dyana Sofya and the two DAP Kedah State Assemblymen, Tan Kok Yew (Derga) and Teoh Boon Kok (Kota Darul Aman), as well as the PAS State Assemblyman for Kubang Rotan, Mohd Nasir Mustafa, I visited the Taman Anggerik market food court in Alor Setar where the sacrilegious act by the Chinese community was alleged by Mashitah to have taken place.”
“In our conversion with the stall holders and the people in the area, it was confirmed that Mashitah was guilty of a heinous hate speech by fabricating the dangerous lie in a multi-racial and multi-religious society that the Chinese community in the area had burnt the Quran “page by page during a prayer ritual”,” said Lim.
Before Mashitah had blamed the Chinese community for the burning of the Quran, Kedah MB Mukhriz Mahathir had clarified in a statement that a mentally unstable Malay man had folded and not burnt the pages of the Quran. He is currently being detained in a psychiatric ward in the state.
“If Zahid is not happy with Mukhriz’s statement and the findings of our fact-finding visit to the food court yesterday, I suggest he should personally make a visit to the Taman Anggerik market food court to find out the facts himself,” said Lim.
Despite what Lim says is a “mountain of evidence” to the contrary of Mashitah’s claims, the former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department has refused to retract her statement or even apologize.
Mashitah is not the only one being lambasted by the DAP for racist insinuations, Penang UMNO delegate Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said made a sweeping statement about Penang Chinese who achieve financial success through illegal means. Zaidi had also used the derogatory term ‘keling’ when refer to Indians in Penang.
However, what DAP sees as overtly racial speeches have gone unpunished despite the 24 hour pledge by Zahid Hamidi. This year, authorities have zoomed in on opposition politicians, academics, a journalist and even gone to the extent of probing a 17 year old student under The Sedition Act for allegedly ‘liking’ a Facebook page called “I love Israel”.
“I will give Zahid 480 hours or 20 days till Dec. 18 before I ask to meet him to find out why he is unable to fulfil his public oath that the police will start investigations within 24 hours of a report lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue,” said Lim. -The Rocket
