'Isma stoking race to drown out GST protests'
The recent slew of racist statements against non-Malays is only a ploy to divert public attention from the fundamental issue of the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) and rising costs of living.
The recent slew of racist statements against the non-Malays is only a ploy to divert public attention from the fundamental issue of the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) and rising costs of living.
Jingga 13 chief coordinator Fariz Musa said Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) name-calling the Chinese as "intruders" and "bullies of the Malays" is allegedly aimed at hiding the government's "acts of cruelty" against the people.
"These include implementing GST, the rising prices and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) issue," he said in a statement last night.
Jingga 13 is a youth NGO aligned to PKR and has been actively campaigning against the implementation of GST next year.
On May 1 over 50,000 protestors gathered at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur to make a stand against the blanket tax on spending, that they say is unfair as the government should be cutting its excessive and wasteful expenditure first.
In the week that followed, the issue of Kelantan PAS' pursuit of its state hudud enactment was whipped into a media frenzy, drowning out the massive GST protest.
In its wake Isma chimed in calling the Chinese who oppose the Islamic penal code " intruders " who had come to the country to oppress the Malays.
'Isma embarassment to Muslims'
Fariz said Isma's statements were an "embarrassment to Malays and Muslims" and said it was "provocation" meant to split the races.
"Actually such racial issues shouldn't arise as we have long accepted the multiracial makeup of this country.
"The Isma president should be more mature and stop acting like a kid to try to start the fires of racial hatred," said Fariz.
Calling Isma a BN and Umno mouth piece, he said such groups were trying to stir racial discord as they are worried about the strong multiracial support that Pakatan Rakyat enjoys.
"Ultimately these controversies are perpetrated to rally political support for Umno-BN," he added.
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