A group of five NGOs today filed five separate police reports against the burning of controversial novel 'Interlok' and the picture of its author, Abdullah Hussein, last Saturday.

NONE The group claimed that the torching incident was a direct insult to the book's author, the nation's literary greats and also the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The police reports, filed at the Dang Wangi police station at 3pm, also claimed that the book burning was an attack on the dignity of the author and smelled of excessive hatred that could spark racial tensions and the anger of the Malays.

The five NGOs include Gapena and Pena, representing Malay literature writers, aside from Ikatan Melayu Asli Nusantara, Majlis Permuafakatan PIBG Nasional and Majlis Kebudayaan Negeri Selangor.

The group have also urged the police to investigate Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud and Kota Alam Shah state assemblyperson M Manoharan over their involvement in Saturday's protest.

All five police reports stated that “their presence at the protest was an acknowledgement and acceptance” of the book burning and that they should be investigated because as political leaders, they hold great influence.

Siti Mariah earlier today however denied supporting the book burning , stating that in no way did her brief presence at the event mean that she supported the Indian community’s opposition to the book.

Book burning insult to education system

PIBGN president Prof Madya Mohamad Ali Hassan told journalists that the book burning is also an insult to the national education system perpetrated by those who are “childish, immature and hard up for political mileage”.

Saying he is speaking on behalf of parents nationwide, Mohamad Ali said education should not be politicised; instead it should be discussed intellectually and civilly.

“The burning of the novel is a bad example and rude for Malaysian citizens. We do not want this to continue and it should be stopped... this is not the way to protest.”

Mohamad Ali noted that PIBGN and Koperasi Kedai Buku Universiti Malaya will jointly organise an open forum at Rumah Universiti on Jan 26 at 2pm to find an acceptable solution to the on-going controversy.

In a related development, Gapena will host a gathering with other NGOs in a bid to find common ground on how to deal with the controversial novel.

Gapena media officer Borhan Mat Zain said the gathering will be held this Saturday (Jan 15) at 2pm at Rumah Gapena near the Dewan Bahasa dan Pusaka building.

Gapena is also scheduled to present a memorandum of protest over the book burning to the Education Ministry at 3pm tomorrow.

Ends.