comment Increasingly shrill voices are coming to the fore from the ‘twilight zone' in defence of Perkasa, an extreme right-wing fringe group, which has taken upon itself to be the so-called guardian of Malay nationalism, Malay supremacy - whatever that means - and the federal constitution .

In reality, what they mean is something quite different from what those lofty-sounding terms portray.

I foresee their actions can only result eventually in the total rejection of Umno. The closest parallel in recent memory is in India, where the extreme right-wing Hindu fanatic Bharata Janatiya Party (BJP) was thrown out lock, stock and barrel by the voters - who are 85 percent Hindu - after one term in power.

It is clear that Umno has sub-contracted its vile racist agenda to Perkasa in order to have its cake and eat it too.

NONE The only ones standing up for Perkasa so far have been from Umno, including Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak (left ) and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, among others.

At the same time, Najib has also proclaimed, without batting an eyelid, that no one will be left out under his New Economic Model and the 1Malaysia theme of his administration.

In short, there will be no more of the 50-odd years of marginalisation and ‘ethnic cleansing' that Hindraf is bitter about. Instead, it will be an all-new Malaysia that emphasises inclusiveness, although this, no doubt, would be easier said than done.

Surely these are all contradictions in terms.

But more on that later as we first run the gauntlet of ‘Perkasa-ism' as preached by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has since crawled back into his ultra-Malay wormhole, his pet poodle Ibrahim Ali in tow with their coterie of sycophants and apologists, besides the Umno top dogs.

The latest to spring to Perkasa's defence is Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

Outside the fold, newly-elected Hulu Selangor MP P Kamalanathan was a lone exception in singing praises for Perkasa during his election campaign. Strangely, the MIC member has since fallen silent on the issue after winning the seat.

In any other civilised, democratic nation in the 21st century, both the prime minister and his deputy would have been hounded out of their political existence by the media and civil society for the faux pas over Perkasa.

In Malaysia however, Najib and Muhyiddin are still walking around free because the people are confused as to what is really going on. Put this down largely to the rakyat's inability to think beyond what they are told by their tribal and feudal leaders. These so-called leaders are not above distorting and turning every issue in the country into a racial and religious issue with emotive undertones.

Bleeding Malaysia dry

Already, our national debt burden is 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, as scams masquerading as so-called ‘development projects' continue to raid the treasury of the people's sweat. Government contracts are costing the good people of Malaysia double, triple and even up to 10 times what it should cost.

Even the Chinese, under the infamous ‘Ali Baba' system of rent-seeking are shuddering, stricken by their conscience late in the day, at the very cost to the sustainability of the nation by such abuses. But the ‘Alis' linked to the establishment blunder on oblivious to the bleak future of their own children, grandchildren and the generations unborn.

perkasa publication This is the system that Perkasa wants to protect under the guise of Malay nationalism, Malay supremacy and the federal constitution. In short, a tiny minority in Malaysia wants to continue to have a free ride in perpetuity at the expense of the rest of the nation.

They want to be the Brahmins of Malaysia, with all the rip-off privileges that go with that dubious status, while flogging Nazism and the apartheid philosophy to hoodwink and browbeat the great sweating masses in the kampungs into political submission for their nefarious ends.

When Perkasa blusters, bluffs and hypes about defending the federal constitution, what it actually means is it wants a licence to continue to trample on that sacred document, just as Umno has been doing over the last 50-odd years in its various distortions and deviations. This has included usurping the powers of the King under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

Article 153 of the federal constitution must be read in conjunction with Article 40 (the King's discretion), Article 136 (impartial treatment of all races) and Article 161A (definition of natives). Two other relevant parts of the federal constitution are Article 8 (equality under the law) and Article 3 (Islam and other religions).

The federal constitution rightly does not recognise Malay nationalism, just as it doesn't recognise Dusun or Dayak nationalism or self-determination for the Orang Asli. Malay, Dusun and Dayak nationalism are the very antithesis of Malaysia as a nation-state founded on the rule of law and on the federal constitution as the supreme law of the law.

The Malays, Dusuns and Dayaks must content themselves with being a people of old in a modern nation-state where they are neither ‘more equal', nor any less, than any other citizen under the federal constitution. This is Pax Malaysiana - the peace of Malaysia - a writ that runs throughout the land.

Perkasa's and Umno's hype of Malay supremacy is a self-serving myth created by their propaganda machine over the last 50 years and has no basis in law and the federal constitution. Let no one even bother to dignify this concept further than this point.