A police report has been lodged against a Twitter account holder for sending out “false information” that the Friday sermon may be banned in Penang mosques.

The tweet was linked to a blog-post purportedly posted by Pakatan Rakyat and entitled ‘Penang pertimbang haramkan Khutbah Jumaat’ (Penang considers banning Friday sermon).

Bukit Bendera DAP Socialist Youth head Mohd Haris Zuan Jaharuddin (right) , denying that the blog is operated by Pakatan, lodged the report at the Northeast police station in Jalan Pattani today.

PAS Jelutong Youth chief Saiful Azwan and vice-chief Mohd Fadli Abdul Wahab accompanied him to the police station.

The Twitter account is held by Abdul Aziz Johari, who claims to be the Kuala Nerus Terengganu Umno Youth working secretary.

Abdul Aziz had tweeted: ‘Bkn kuasa Penang pun, kalu buat jg (juga), kompem perang.’ (It isn’t even within the jurisdiction of Penang; if it proceeds, then it’s war).

He tagged the deputy prime minister, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and two Umno leaders.

After lodging the report, Haris said the tweet was intended to “spread slander with the purpose of inciting racial sentiments and creating hatred among the different religions”.

Calling on the police to act, he also claimed the mention of ‘war’ goes beyond the threat of violence to “reignite the attempt to incite racial riots”.

Haris also urged Umno to act against Abdul Aziz if it is genuine about promoting national unity through Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's 1Malaysia concept.

"It is very disappointing that in a country where the majority (of the people) are Malay Muslims and we are protected by the federal constitution and provided all kinds of special rights, this community is frightened as if it is the one being marginalised," he said.

"It is even more embarrassing that this fear is being instilled by a political party which is supposedly fighting for Islam and the Malay community.”

‘It wasn’t slander’

When contacted via Twitter, Abdul Aziz denied that he had spread slander against the Penang government.

"Basically, I didn't say much about the content, just (expressed) my point of view that (the ban) can't be implemented because Penang has no power to do so," he said.

Over the month, Penang has seen tense episodes related to racial and religious sensitivities.

Last Sunday, a slab of meat was thrown into the compound of the Cherok Tokun mosque.

Last month, two molotov cocktails were hurled into the compound of the historic Church of the Assumption in Farquhar street.

Both BN and Pakatan leaders have condemned the acts as attempts to stoke racial tensions in the state.