Selangor PAS deputy commissioner Khalid Samad said today that PAS Youth should not endorse the anti-apostasy rally on Saturday by attending.

However, he said before commenting further that he would need to consult Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan on their plans to participate.

orange book forum klscah 250111 khalid samad “I will have to get that from him tonight, (if) that (is) his stand then let him say it in the meeting tonight,” said Khalid (PAS-Shah Alam) ( left ).

“I don’t know whether this is truly his stand, or he might have been misquoted or may have been misrepresented (but) if this is truly his stand, then of course (it is) very disappointing, I mean this is not the way to make decisions and you don’t make a stand even before you have consulted others,” he said.

PAS Youth’s stand contradicts that of Selangor PAS, which yesterday said it would not support the event to be held at the Shah Alam Stadium if the main objective was to attack other religions.

According to the the website of Himpunan Sejuta Umat, the organiser of the rally, the main objective of the event is to “gauge the unity among Muslims, particularly against the Christianisation efforts on Aug 3”.

azlan This is a reference to a search by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais), conducted at a hall in the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) compound, where a fund-raising dinner was being held, following a tip-off that proselytising efforts were being carried out by a welfare group.

Non-governmental organisation Harapan Komuniti was at that time using the premises to hold a thanksgiving dinner, which was gatecrashed by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais).

A probe conducted by Jais later revealed that the event was attended by 12 Muslims and the department allegedly found evidence of attempts to subvert Muslims.

The website lists 25 NGOs that have pledged support for the gathering, but media reports say it will be attended by 1,000 Muslim NGOs.

‘Umno mercenaries behind rally’

“You don’t strengthen the Muslims by generating conflicts with non-Muslim, but giving them greater exposure to what Islam teaches, which is to have respect for other religions,” added Khalid.

He reiterated that the motives of the rally are very much geared towards “creating a situation of religious tension and unrest” instead of the understanding of Islam.

Ahmad Kasim (PKR-Kuala Kedah) also said that the objectives of the rally are to “incite the emotions of Muslims” and to cause racial tension.

“Those who are sidelined in national politics become Umno mercenaries waiting to be rewarded... they must prove their worth by wrecking up the cooperation that exist between the Pakatan Rakyat parties,” he said.

NONE Strengthening faith, said Ahmad, has to be done through education and by heightening social services as well as the strengthening of Syariah laws.

Mujahid Yusof Rawa (PAS-Parit Buntar) ( right ) supported Ahmad’s stand and lashed out at the authorities for issuing a permit for the rally to convene.

“When we wanted to bring the issues of democracy and the people’s right to clean elections we were denied a permit. This is double standards,” said Mujahid.

Related stories

PAS to declare stand on anti-apostasy rally tonight

PAS Youth backs Saturday rally

Rally organiser denies links to Ezam or Perkasa

Perlis mufti doubts '250,000 apostates' claim

PAS on the brink over anti-apostasy

Aziz Bari agrees to debate Zul Noordin

Anti-apostasy rally aims to sow tension

Najib playing good cop-bad cop routine?