Two daughters of former prime ministers have joined hundreds of Malaysians in an online petition to support of Sisters In Islam (SIS) in the wake of a PAS’ call for the women’s organisation to be banned.

umno general assembly day two 141106 khairy nori Nori Abdullah ( right in photo ), daughter of former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Marina Mahathir, daughter of another former PM, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have both signed the petition.

Nori’s husband, Khairy Jamaluddin ( left in photo ), who is also Rembau parliamentarian, has added his name to the list, which registered 307 signatures yesterday when it was launched, of which 42 were non-government organisations.

Some of the key personalities who are on the list include former Umno minister Zaid Ibrahim, former Penang Gerakan exco Dr Toh Kin Woon and Klang MP Charles Santiago.

As of 2pm today, the petition has bagged another 168 signatures and the number is steadily increasing, bringing the total number of names to 475.

“While we respect the freedom of members of PAS to associate in a manner that they consider appropriate or warranted as well as their freedom to express a view... the members of SIS, or any other organisation for that matter, are equally guaranteed those freedoms,” said the online petition .

The petition described the call to “silence SIS and send its members for rehabilitation” as an act of violence against freedom of expression, which is guaranteed under the constitution.

“We reiterate that though members of PAS are entitled to their views, the call for the banning of SIS is wholly unacceptable,” it stressed.

Mixed reaction to ban call

The statement also urged PAS to reconsider its position and take all the necessary steps to retract it ban call against SIS.

mukhriz mahathir hari raya open house 091106 marina At the PAS 55th Muktamar last weekend, the party passed a resolution calling on the National Fatwa Council to ban SIS.

The Islamic party has accused SIS of bringing confusion to the Muslim community and said that its actions could destroy the Islamic faith.

There has been mixed reaction following PAS’ call for the ban.

While Mahathir, like his daughter ( right ), defended SIS , former Selangor menteri besar Mohd Khir Toyo and Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin from PKR have demanded that the controversial women’s organisation to drop “Islam” from its name.